Creeping Thorns
by BleedItAndWeep
Summary: "Creeping thorns is predominantly a character drama with elements of family, friendship, hurt/comfort and an odd sense of humor to break up the angst. Featuring as much gore and body horror as the prototype games, with heavy emphasis on the psychological aspects of its characters." -Slight Prototype x-over-
1. Fall

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Fall_

 ** _Hello! Welcome. I recommend pulling up a playlist filled to the brim with RWBY OST, because I reference the songs as though they were currently playing. A lot. It's kind of my thing for this story. Yeah..._**

 ** _Anyway, hope you enjoy it!_**

* * *

 _In Remnant, there is only one real truth._

 _Long before Man had ever discovered Dust, long before the shattering of the Moon and the rise of the Kingdoms, there was only Humanity's desperate, vicious fight to survive, and the Grimm. They lurked in every shadow, haunted every night, and plagued the corners of man's mind and soul._

 _One common legend explains why. Long ago, there was a village that was especially unfortunate, being fraught with Grimm attacks that only grew in ferocity as years went by. One by one, the villagers fell, and despair grew in the hearts of man. Eventually, it's inhabitants sought refuge in other villages. Then one by one, the villagers around them succumbed to the same fate, and despair grew further still. Desperation came next, as word spread, and the survivors were barred entry from other villages, hailed as a cursed blight on Humanity. When hunger set in, Man's soul had already twisted into something unrecognisable. Brothers spilled the blood of brothers, all to sustain themselves at the expense of others. Other villages, seeing the bloodshed, shored themselves up against others. Tensions grew as resources became scarcer, the trade between villages diminishing to nothing. As famine set in, so did disease, mistrust, and hate. The most vicious villages smelled blood in the water, and then there was only War._

 _Man had become his own worst enemy. At a time that he needed to stand united, stronger than ever, the Grimm dwelling in the hearts of man struck first. This spiral did not, could not, last forever._

 _When the Grimm returned, it was to dust and ashes. A lone woman stood amongst the death and ruin, silent as the grave. Then the Witch strode forward into the crowd of Grimm, bearing a head full of striking white hair, and laughed. She commanded they kneel, so it was done. They had been following her orders all this time, crippling the Humans with a few key strikes to set them against themselves. At this point, many stories diverge. Some say she still roams with an ever growing horde of Grimm, consuming all life in her wake. Others say she rules from a dark throne beyond the mortal plane, controlling the Grimm like puppets, manipulating Man into petty conflict to weaken them. A handful say that she is a myth, and nothing more._

 _There is often no reason to believe the whole legend, but one thing is certain. That somewhere, at some point, at some time, the story began for a reason. Some truth, be it cautionary or literal, grounds the story in reality. And if it is only a sliver of truth that remains after centuries of retelling, then let it be there was once a girl who was like Grimm. And not that there remains a creature beyond Human understanding manipulating us like playthings, twisting our fates for sick amusement._

 _Because if the latter is true, then there is only one real truth. That Man did not overcome Grimm through might alone, because who could slay a God? Man was permitted to live. Man is a plaything._

 _Man cannot overcome God. Such is our misery, to be toyed with eternally, until we are empty of amusement._

* * *

He breathed, letting the smoke fill the cold autumn air.

The darkness of nighttime Vale stretched out around him like a cloak, held at bay by dim street lights and the obnoxiously bright sign of club _3B._ The 3 was reversed, to give the nightclub and criminal hot-spot a more professional appearance, presumably. TJ still thought it looked stupid anyway, but he wasn't paid enough to get his head ripped off for expressing an opinion, so he kept his trap shut.

Thankfully, it wasn't any stupider than his current company. Twice already he'd smacked his fellow Door-guard (a title far more legitimate than paid muscle or run-of-the-mill Bouncer) upside the head for dozing off. Somehow he managed to sleep standing up, despite the headache inducing decibel of the club's otherwise acceptable music. Unbe-fucking-lievable. There was something to be said about him if his boss thought they were both equally talented at scaring off undesirables. Still, he hadn't seen it yet. Maybe they both just drew the short straw…

For a moment, the darkness of nighttime Vale became darker, as the light of the club's neon sign flickered. TJ blinked slowly, then removed his uniform dark shades to rub his eyes. "You good?" His partner for the evening grunted, cheap cigarette glinting in the dark as he lit up. TJ grunted back. He refocused his gaze on the empty street, internally grumbling about a lack of sleep.

Something stared back.

TJ and his fellow henchmen almost leapt out of their own skin. A child stood at their feet with piercingly empty eyes, a runt in red clothing. She was there, as though she'd always been, affixed to the concrete. She made no movement, nor noise. She wasn't even blinking. After hours of nothing, somebody had dropped a disturbingly human-like statue at the door of 3B, right when TJ had rubbed his eyes.

TJ frowned hard, pushing back the reptilian fear emerging from his instincts. The child's large, silver eyes simply looked at him. No expression. His unease intensified, unconsciously gripping his weapon before he caught himself. This was just a kid, doing a stupid prank. No need to overthink it.

Seeing that the kid wasn't inclined to speak first, TJ opened his mouth, only for his partner to beat him to it.

"The fuck do you want, kid?" Wisps of smoke drifted out of his mouth as he spoke, exhaling the drag of his vice with excruciating slowness.

The child's head turned unnaturally slowly, as though only remembering to move it after the fact. TJ's gut was begging, pleading for him to put as much ground between him and the kid as possible. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Then it spoke, and his blood turned to ice.

"Is Hei Xiong here?"

If TJ was holding anything, he would've dropped it into a thousand pieces. How the _fuck_ did this kid know his Boss's real name? He only knew it because he'd been working here a while, and even then one of the club's many unspoken rules was that you _never sa_ _y_ _the name_. Was this kid… but then she wouldn't be using the front door…

The unease blossomed into full-on panic. This kid was rigged to blow, or _something_ , and TJ was _not_ paid nearly fucking enough to throw his life away for a shitty graveyard shift. His partner, however, whose ears were so green they could've been used as farmland, leaned into the child's face. He probably hadn't the faintest idea why TJ was panicking.

His lips parted in a menacing grin, and he exhaled the rest of his toxic vice straight into the kid's face. The plume of smoke clung to her, lazily wafting around, but was otherwise absolutely still. Unnaturally still. TJ's stomach sunk even lower when he realised the kid wasn't even _breathing_.

He quickly gripped his partner's shoulder, and bit out "we need to back off. Right the fuck now."

His fellow thug about-faced in incredulity, planting his hand roughly atop the girl's head in some twisted facsimile of an affectionate touch. "It's a _kid_. How the fuck are you scared of a-"

He stopped. The next sound to emerge from his mouth was a surprised gagging noise. TJ turned to look at the kid as though expecting the Witch herself to be there.

She wasn't there. Instead, she was already walking past them, blood dripping from her fingers. He slowly swivelled towards his partner, only needing a brief moment to find the blood. His forearm was flattened, like a toothpaste tube crushed by a steamroller, with his wrist and elbow as the caps. It was attached to his body by a limp piece of skin, dangling listlessly.

Several moments passed in absolute silence in nighttime Vale, punctuated by a brief increase in the decibel of club 3B's music, before his partner began screaming at the top of his lungs.

* * *

 _And yet Humanity prospered. It is truly a curious thing._

 _Remnant is a place of unspeakable beauty, fraught with countless dangers, sustained by endless sacrifice. Sacrifice of those who came before, who never lived to see their bravery honoured or their struggles given meaning. Sacrifice of those who fight for it now, carrying the torch of those long gone in place of their own dreams. Sacrifice of our descendants, upon whom we place an impossible burden, the weight of an ever-growing flame that was once a spark._

 _Hope. That which banishes shadows and burns roads into nothingness, that twists anguish into purpose, and ruin into prosperity._

 _But perhaps this is not a sign of Man's defiance, despite what the optimists and Followers of Oum may say. Perhaps the horror of the Gods' machinations is not truly beyond comprehension, merely requiring a longer form of understanding, transcending petty things like Human lifespans._

 _All songs reach a crescendo before the fall. Our prosperity may very well be their latest game, to build us up into truly fearsome opponents, to make the next conquering a truly incredible feat. They want us to dream, to scheme, to raise our armies. To become a Beacon of light, the Shade to their radiance, the Haven from their gaze, the imposing Atlas against their wrath._

 _Then, in battle, they want us to watch. To watch as our efforts become in vain. To watch as we **Fall**._

* * *

The inside of Club 3B was only marginally brighter than the night outside, despite the abundance of flashing lights and starkly red commodities. Darkness clung to the air of this place, personifying its patron's leering faces and hushed whispers. Music pounded to the beat of a throbbing headache, loud enough to drown out any chance of eavesdropping. Or of having second-thoughts.

The child calmly walked forward, gait steady as she searched for her goal. The central dance-floor was filled with heat, warm bodies gyrating in ecstasy, burning with desire and sweating in the humidity. At each corner protruded a glass cage, thin girls with animal traits dancing exotically, letting their bought and paid-for assets become especially lurid amid all the other amateurish movement.

She scanned the outskirts, noting the blood-red glass furniture, and subtle red lines denoting the outer wall. They lead up the stairs on either side of the club, ending in something beyond the rolling crowd. It was while examining the elevated walkways that she noticed the bar, as red as the furniture, and the bearded man attending it.

She was spotted as she approached quite quickly, one of the patrons nudging the bearded man in her direction. His eyebrow rose higher the closer she got, until she was peering at him from behind the counter, chin barely above the red finish. He looked half-way caught between amused and agitated. "Alright," he said, sighing as he drew back to look at the rest of the sunglass wearing patrons. "Which one of you idiots let her in?"

"We're not on door duty, Boss." One of the henchmen shrugged lackadaisically, nursing his brown drink. "That's TJ and Baby's fuck up right there," he ended by gesturing offhandedly to the fuck up in question. The rest of the uniformed men nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm, in such a pattern as to seem like they'd been previously sorted by sobriety.

The 'Boss' rolled his eyes. "I'm not 'Boss' until next week. So…" He leaned over, hands on the counter-top as he stared deeply into the child's motionless eyes. "Are you gonna fuck off kid, or do my guys have to make you?"

Her response was not quite what he was expecting.

"Are you Hei Xiong?"

He blinked, slowly. With a growl, he turned on his men who all but ran away screaming. "Alright – I can excuse a fuck up at the door but my _name_? How is it _possible_ for somebody to be that fu-"

"I'm looking for someone."

He stopped. Gears visibly turned in his head. Suddenly, Junior was all business, straightening himself and his tie. Only then did the child appreciate his height, standing at a towering 7 feet, or just about. He pointed authoritatively at one of the henchmen, who almost jumped out of his skin at the gesture. "You! Bar duty! Now!" The darkly clothed thug scrambled off his stool, almost gauging out his eye in his haste to salute and jump the counter. Junior smiled disarmingly, an extremely well-practiced motion.

He lifted the entrance to the counter-top with one hand and walked through. He gestured to his side. "Please. Come with me." The child did so wordlessly.

They ascended the walkways to the highest level, then walked briefly to the farthest end. Junior thumbed the wall, a beep that was practically impossible to hear through the noise below signifying that he'd found his mark, and the wall slid aside noiselessly. The corridor beyond was much, much darker than the rest of the club.

"Follow me." Frowning slightly, the child watched the adult calmly step into the darkness. Eventually, she followed suit, and was consumed by darkness.

* * *

 ** _They see you as small and helpless, they see you as just a child…_**

* * *

"So." Junior leaned back into the expensive leather, exotic cigar held between his teeth as his hands cupped his lighter. He took a moment to inhale, then breathed into the great nothing of the dark room, lit dimly by red light along the walls. "Who're you looking for?"

In the meantime, the child had practically turned into a different person. She couldn't sit still in her seat that was far too tall for her, eyes squinting almost comically in the low light. She was drawn so tightly together she'd practically shrunk half a foot. Any tighter, and she'd snap in half from the tension.

She was, literally, twiddling her thumbs. Like a child. Well, a younger child. Junior's eyes narrowed, his next words coming out with the same harshness he'd showed his men earlier.

"I don't enjoy being fucked with. If you're being put up to this, I'm going to beat _you_ and _them_ like a slacking Faunus in a Dust mine for wasting my time. Understand?"

She stopped, staring at him wide eyed, the first time he'd seen her eyes harbouring emotion. He glared back intimidatingly. She audibly gulped, and opened her mouth wordlessly. It shut moments later, as she closed her eyes tight and tried to steady her breathing, looking like she was fighting merely to remain conscious. Just when Junior had begun to tire of her theatrics, she finally spoke.

"I'm… l-looking for a girl." Junior blinked, as though he'd just forgotten everything he knew. Was that _it_? "With…" she smiled softly. "Blonde hair. Big Blonde hair, and lilac eyes."

He hummed in thought. "Alright. Anything else? Place of birth? Occupation? Scarring or tattoos? Name?" At the last one, she perked up.

She nodded, the same soft smile resting quietly on her pale face.

"Yang. Yang Xiao-long." The wistful look spread to her silver eyes, the beginning of tears forming at their corners. "She's my sister. She's been missing for 8 years."

* * *

Junior had been quiet for a long time, contemplatively so. Ruby was somewhat appreciative, though her social anxiety was still choking her with questions of _what if this means he's mad_ and _should I be saying something_ and _please don't be a dead end please don't be a dead end._

Though that last one may have simply been her own inner mantra, repeated so often as she came here that it was almost second nature. She wasn't sure she could handle the heartbreak of finding nothing _again_ , not after how much effort she went through to find out who Junior was. She wouldn't have needed to go through so much effort if she could've justasked _him_ , but his dismissal of the importance of her search and her own awkwardness made that impossible. Try as she might, she couldn't challenge him on anything, whether that was because of gratitude or weakness was an internal struggle for another day.

Today, she searched for Yang. Her sister.

Junior finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh. "So from what you've told me, you were separated at least 8 years ago." Ruby nodded, having already told him all she knew, something that proved markedly easier once she was already talking. "You don't know when, exactly, or where. You don't know who took her, just that it happened, and afterwards, you came to Vale. You don't even know if she's in Vale, or still alive," Ruby flinched slightly, but still nodded again.

The ensuing silence was much shorter than the previous one. Junior ground his deathstick into his ashtray, already sporting a handful of used cigars. He left it there, simmering, burning down like a reversed candle. When it died, he finally spoke.

"Look, kid. I hate to break it to ya, but she's gone." Ruby's heart sank, eyes watering. For a brief, brief instant, Junior almost looked guilty. Almost. "I know just about everything that happens in Vale, but this? You don't need an info broker. You need Oum himself." He stated it matter of fact, no doubt used to relying harsh truths in the info business. He shook his head, as though ridding himself of any responsibility. "That said, we should move onto the next topic. My payment."

Ruby stared, blatant shock momentarily halting her burning tears. "W-what?" He hadn't so much as _moved_ from his chair, and he expected to be paid?

"My time is valuable." He stated as though it was glaringly self-evident. "And you just wasted it with a fool's errand." He snapped his fingers, and immediately 5 of his henchman funnelled into the small room, towering over the seated child with menacing looks. Their tall forms shadowed her own, the sparkling tears and bright silver eyes the only thing left visible in the darkness. She looked up, staring at the cabal of thugs peering down at her with visibly malicious intent. The anxiety in her chest blossomed into something much, much worse.

Junior raised a hand, showing his palm. "You can either cough it up, or we can beat it out of you."

Ruby was silent, pulse racing as terror set in. "H-how much?"

"Fifty thousand lien." He said quickly. Ruby was dumbstruck. "Like I said, my time is valuable. That, and you haven't paid the entry fee." The thugs above her chuckled darkly in unison, watching the blatant extortion with thinly veiled glee.

Several moments passed in tense silence as Ruby contemplated what to do, shivering despite the warm bodies surrounding her. Then, she shakily reached into her dress pocket. Her hand resurfaced with a wallet, swollen grotesquely with Lien. Junior couldn't stop his mouth from falling open, astounded. That was much, much more than fifty thousand Lien. They'd just hit the jackpot.

His men whistled, one of the more impulsive ones attempting to reach for it before his hand was swatted away by another. Ruby slid off her seat. She almost tripped over her own feet, she was trembling so violently, despite the handful of steps she had to walk. Something much more frightening than the man in front of her lurked within the room, much darker than the henchmen's shadow, and much more primordial than light. She tried to hand off the wallet lightly, but Junior practically ripped it from her small, pale hands.

Something coursed in Ruby's veins, rolling under her skin. Her fear became paralysing, and she was no longer able to stand, falling gracelessly against the leather chair. Junior cocked an eyebrow, both at the melodramatic child and the wallet's contents. The Lien was mostly new, some strips were a couple years old, but otherwise perfectly legitimate. He had an eye for this sort of thing, considering his occupation. When he was done counting, he 'tsk'ed in annoyance. He'd apparently been mistaken.

"You're twenty Lien short." He shook his head, as though pretending he was being forced to do this. "Normally, I'd sell you, but you know my name. That makes you a loose end. Killing you here and now, however, is bad for business." He stood up to his full height, lording over Ruby and his henchmen alike. "I have a better idea." He gestured, and his men grabbed her arms. They groaned as they lifted Ruby to her feet, surprised at how _heavy_ the tiny girl was. Even as she stood, motionless, they continued to hold her, restraining her with comparatively large hands.

"You're young, very young." Junior thought aloud. His enormous finger traced along the contours of Ruby's torso, stopping at points of interest as he spoke. "The lungs will be an easy hundred thousand, the kidney and liver another fifty, each. Your heart will be a cool million." Fantasising about how much money he was about to make had almost made the man aroused, and it showed in the low growl of his voice. His finger landed on her face, no longer crying but perfectly still and sorrowful. "And silver eyes, if they're as rare as they say, are going to be five million. Each. Fifteen million for a pair. Hell, maybe I hold onto them. They're sure to appreciate in value soon enough." He smirked darkly at his own sick humour, laughing at thoughts of things that none outside his line of work would ever know. His finger suddenly pushed into Ruby's forehead, more than hard enough to bruise.

"Look at me." Ruby ignored him, so he pushed harder, shoving aside flesh and digging into the bone. Ruby flinched, yet her eyes never rose. Junior growled, and drew back his hand. The reprieve was momentary, as he punched the silver eyed girl for all he was worth, and damn near broke his own fist in the process. He shook it, hissing as he noted how _hard_ her bones were. She definitely drank her milk. Hell, maybe he could sell them too.

The damage on Ruby's end was considerably worse. She spat blood right onto the carpet, which mysteriously refused to sink in, instead sliding around like water off a duck's back. Her cheek was already beginning to swell, and the roaring in her veins grew ever louder. Junior's gloved hand forced her chin up as Ruby desperately fought to remain conscious, fingers curling and uncurling. He glared straight into her emotionless eyes as she drooled blood, mindfully keeping his expensive shoes away from the growing pool.

Then, he smiled. It was not a pleasant expression. It carried with it the darkness that infested club 3B, that choked the light from the backrooms deeper within. The same darkness that Ruby already intimately knew, as it struggled to escape beneath her skin, and was frightened of beyond words.

"Nobody but my _brother_ gets to say my name. Ever." He leaned back, and promptly returned to his seat. An off-hand gesture sent his men outside, dragging the girl along with them.

As a parting gesture, he yelled - "when you meet your sister, tell her I'm sorry we never met. I haven't fucked a blonde in ages." He disappeared with the slamming of the door, his men chuckling at their boss' crude humour, sitting on his leather throne, smoking in obvious contentment.

Her heart beat loudly in her ears as she was dragged. Erratic, vengeful. Something dwelling even deeper within clawed at the walls. Ruby screamed and screamed and screamed, but she never made a noise, having already half lost the battle. She closed her eyes, waiting for the nightmare to be over, and let go.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered. One of the men dragging her cocked his head in obvious confusion.

"For what?"

The eyes that met him were no longer silver.

* * *

 ** _Surprised when they find out that a monster will soon run wild…_**

* * *

Junior had only a moment to enjoy his cigar and fantasise about how much money he was going to make before everything went wrong.

Louder than usual screams echoed through the dark hallways of 3B's backrooms. In fact, they sounded like -

A headless corpse shattered the door, breaking it off the hinges in a grand display of blood and wood, and absolutely _ruining_ his carpet. The force of the thrown body had shaken the whole room, momentarily stunning Hei Xiong. More screams echoed through the dark corridor until he stepped out, carefully avoiding any strewn viscera or blood. The sight before him left him on his knees.

A monster – no, a _Grimm_ – had appeared suddenly in the corridor, lashing out with decapitating viciousness and violent cruelty. He watched his last two men make a run for it, their other two colleagues already ripped in half, before two tendrils shot out from the dark form and impaled them. Gargling on their own blood, they clung desperately to smooth walls and carpeting for dear life, quite literally. Their fingernails came off long before the monster relented, and they screamed for whatever they were still worth through a throatful of blood as it dragged them closer. Then they were silenced, gaping holes where their hearts once were, as the monster dripped blood from every limb. It was absolutely _covered_ in it, having seemingly eked out every single drop of blood from the handful of men, and doused itself with the red liquid. The hallway, which had echoed with the screams of the dying, was returned to absolute silence.

Except for the rapid, wide eyed breathing of Junior, staring at a monster far more terrifying than the one he saw in the morning mirror. Then it became worse.

The tendrils that had murdered his last surviving men emerged, and for a millisecond Junior distantly wondered if he was witnessing his own demise. Instead, they lashed out and impaled the corpses, skewering several with a myriad of tendrils. It dragged the bodies closer, faces soundlessly screaming, limbs desperately reaching, leaving rivers of blood in their wake. At once, dozens of smaller tendrils tore into the body, and -

 _Monty fucking Oum._ Junior turned away and let loose his late dinner. The creature's grotesque feeding was decidedly efficient, turning the bodies into much smaller portions so that its small body could consume it wholesale, shoving entire limbs into the maw that was its very skin. Just the _sound_ made Junior wish he could throw up more than once, but he was already empty.

It wasn't until something else happened that Junior was broken from his panicked revelry. Namely, when the monster finished feeding, and looked directly at him.

Junior ran for his life.

* * *

 ** _Welcome to a world of bloody evolution..._**

* * *

Ruby looked to her side, happily rocking her legs back and forth atop the roofs of Vale. The setting sun cast the city in an orange glow, gentle and warm. A green-haired girl and friend (?) of many years sat with her, eating a late lunch fervently.

Something nagged at the back of her consciousness, a thought that had yet to be realized, but she shook it away. The action caused Emerald to raise an eyebrow.

She swallowed the last of her Vacuoxian cuisine, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She had about as much table manners as Ruby did, which meant none. Though Emerald's excuse was markedly better than the girl raised in luxury. "Something wrong?"

"Nope!" She chirped, smiling happily, grateful to spend any time at all with Emerald, however short. The act caused Emerald to roll her eyes.

"You haven't said anything this whole time. For anyone, that's suspicious, but _especially_ for a loud mouth like you." The comment was stated in jest, yet also in all seriousness. Ruby was still figuring out the portions on that one, despite knowing the meanspirited jerk with a heart of gold for years. She sheepishly laughed, swaying legs refusing to stop for anything.

"Well... I have somewhere to be... later..."

"You're not reading your comics, either." The pile sat behind her, ordered haphazardly, but also untouched since being dropped off. In the interest of being polite, Ruby usually read while Emerald ate, having no need for sustenance in the traditional sense. The statement of fact was about as poignant as anything else Emerald said, but Ruby felt it pierce deeper than normal. Perhaps because Emerald was beginning to pick up Cinder's habit of cutting through all manner of pleasantries. Maybe... just maybe... she was learning to show real concern? Ruby didn't get her hopes up, unlike every other time she thought she was getting through to Emerald.

Ruby sighed, her legs having stopped swaying at some point during her relatively deep musing. Try as Ruby might, Emerald always had a way of killing the mood. That was probably something else she picked up from Cinder.

"It's about my... sister." Ruby let the word hang in the rapidly darkening evening air, knowing the effect it would have, and steeled herself for what was to come.

Emerald rolled her eyes. "This again..."

"It's not like that!" Ruby became defensive almost in reflex, this song and dance having played out many times before. "This time, it's different!"

"The more you cry Beowulf, the less people believe you. At this point, even if you found something, you should just give it up." Ever the pragmatist, Emerald shrugged evenly and averted her gaze to the sunset, letting the sun fall on her dark skin in some facsimile of home.

Ruby clenched her hands, and lowered her eyes. "I really do mean it this time. I found a guy, he's supposed to know everything in Vale-"

"You _live_ with the Crime Lord of Vale." Emerald stated, deadpan. "If he doesn't know it, nobody in Vale knows it."

"Roman doesn't know _everything_!" Ruby was on her feet in an instant, balled fists at her side and yelling as her eyes brimmed with silver tears. "He told me he keeps blindspots, right?! So that means somebody who works in those blindspots might know something he doesn't! A-and maybe he's not from Vale, maybe he's from Atlas or Mistral-"

"Leading yourself on like this is unhealthy." For the first time, Ruby saw... _something_ in Emerald's eyes. It vanished immediately, Emerald's shields up for everyone to see. "You're building yourself up to fall. The higher you build, the worse the fall will be." Something else lurked in Emerald's eyes, as her hands rested flatly atop the rooftop's rough surface. They scrunched up, a glimmer of Emerald's inner turmoil. "Break your own heart now, before it grows into something worse."

"You don't understand." Ruby bit out, years falling freely, as her emotions ran right through her reason. "Nobody understands! Not Roman, not Cinder, not you, not _anybody_! She's real!"

"I understand more than you think." Emerald's comment stopped Ruby, midtirade. Then Ruby's fists drew up, tight at her sides and she shook in raw emotion. "Don't act like you know me."

"How could you-" Those three words would come to be Ruby's greatest regret in her relationship with Emerald yet, and would be for the rest of her life.

"How could I _not_?" She rounded on Ruby, towering over her by half a foot and two years of seniority. They stood face to face with each other, the emotional child and the surprisingly mature teenager. Something panged deep in Emerald's eyes, a hollowness that was horrifying to witness. "How could I not know where I came from? How could I stand to not find out? Well, I _did._ " She bit out the word with such bitterness and hate Ruby stepped back, eyes wide, heart on her sleeve as horror bloomed. "They didn't even recognize me. They _forgot_ I _existed_. They didn't abandon me because they hated me, or because they were forced to, or because they sold me - or anything! They left me behind because they were too wasted to remember I existed! They left me behind because they didn't _care_." Emerald threw her arms up, a deep anger that needed an outlet drawing her closer and closer to Ruby as Ruby slowly walked back. "That's the real word, Ruby! _No one_ cares! Not about your imaginary sister, or your conviction, or anything! You _take_ what you can get because it's all you _can_ get-!"

In a moment, everything twisted, the light of Vale's sunset going from horizontal to vertical. Ruby fell, without a sound, tears trailing behind her, as she-

A strong hand reached out and grasped Ruby's collar milliseconds before she became out of reach, Emerald groaning in effort.

A look past between the two of them. Anguish, in the silver eyes of someone desperate to believe. Anguish, in the red eyes of someone desperate to forget. It lasted a soulful moment as Ruby's sideways world became upright once more.

Ruby fell onto the rooftop, gravel digging into her skin roughly. Emerald did as well, after a moment. Laying down and watching the orange sky turn pink, then black. The silence between them returned, for a while. Ruby couldn't fathom what she could say that would make up for what she had done, and Emerald was simply silent. Lost.

It took an eternity, long after the night had settled in, before Ruby worked up the courage to push aside her guilt and anxiety and speak first.

"I-" Emerald chose that exact moment to sit up, eyes blank as ever. Her hand was outstretched, raised to indicate for Ruby to be silent. She obeyed.

"I," Emerald countered, "don't want to hear it. Do what you want, Ruby. I can't stop you from falling if you're so set on it... this time doesn't count."

She walked off, calmly. Ruby's throat choked with too many words and apologies to speak at once. The moment Emerald stepped off the ledge, she was gone. In retrospect, she wondered if she was even there in the first place, considering her semblance. The pull that saved her from falling several stories certainly felt real, but Ruby knew just how deeply Emerald's powers could affect someone's consciousness. The fact that she took some form of pleasure in it only heightened her... creativity.

She fell back against the gravel, dull ringing in her ears as the silence drowned out everything else. It intensified as the silence deepened, Ruby's heart beating madly in her ears in some faux attempt at fighting back. She balled up, letting the tears fall until the noise became too much. "Stop..." she whimpered, small hands clasping her ears. "I'm sorry... please... I didn't ask to be like this..." The ringing continued to roar, roaring in her ears, the bestial howl of Grimm. She continued to plead. "Please... please..."

It growled right in her ear. Hungry. Vicious. Primordial. The child begged. The monster laughed.

The door was open.

The ringing stopped.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes.

* * *

 _ **TJ, aka Terrence Jaso, roughly means 'Soft Grass' as Jaso is roughly derived from Sorghun which is a type of cereal grass, hence his soft green eyes. Since, you know, the red men of Vale are like grass. It's goddamn everywhere. Likewise, Baby gets his name from his initials - B.B. - which roughly translate to Beal Ban. Which is Irish for 'white face'. As in after having all the blood in his body squeezed out of his arm, he has a white face. Because he's dead. Damnit, I'm a writer, not a sophist!**_


	2. Anti Hero

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Anti-hero_

 ** _Hello. Second rewrite is here. Enjoy!_**

* * *

The ringing stopped.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes.

Blood and death and destruction met her blurred gaze. Her eyelids retreated quickly, as her hands darted around, feeling the bloodsoaked carpet beneath her. She moved shakily to her feet, and cast a lethargic glance at her surroundings. Dark walls, red lines, limbs and limbless bodies, and a small river of blood. Confusion bloomed rapidly, before she laid eyes on the headless corpse at her feet.

All her effort to stand became moot as she fell to her knees amidst the blood, panting and heaving.

"I... I did it again..." Ruby admitted in shame to the bodies, maimed beyond recognition. She bit back sobs but could not restrain her tears, flowing freely. However, the faintest noise in her ear - a sound suspiciously similar to a siren - interrupted her spontaneous grief. As sorry as she felt for these people, she had to go. Right now. A distant part of her wondered at what point she'd become so used to waking up surrounded by corpses that she could minimize her grief so quickly and put it away for later.

Partly, it was because they'd left her no choice. 'They', being the people that Ruby tended to kill, seemed to have a bad habit of doing that. And considering the kinds of people they generally were, these people might - _might -_ have even deserved it. Either way, Ruby only hoped she'd never see the day she woke up surrounded by bodies and felt nothing. Bad guys or not, they were people. They deserved at least a second thought.

She got to her feet, pushing aside her self-flagellation for later. She had to find her way out. Only she had no idea where she even was, aside from vague recollections of being in the club still. She could simply go back the way she came, except that led to the club proper where probably even _more_ henchmen were. The walls were so uniform and smooth that she could barely discern the doors. They also looked exactly the same. Indecision racketed Ruby's body like a fragmented bullet, riddling her with doubt.

Heavy, rapid footfalls echoed down the bloody corridors, directly into Ruby's ears. They were coming from both directions. Ruby groaned softly, already knowing what she had to do. Moments later, dozens of Valen Security Force officers rounded the corners, rifles drawn and trained on the corridor.

But no one was there.

Moonlight lit up the gruesome display before them. In trailed in languidly, drifting like smoke. The troopers trained their eyes upward at the source. A hole, barely wide enough to fit a child, met them.

Their leader immediately pressed an armored hand to his helmet.

" _Central, Red is on the run, I repeat, Red is on the run."_

 _"Roger that, Infantry Unit 12. Air Unit 12 is moving from covering to pursuing position. Over."_

* * *

 _ **Prepare for your greatest moments  
Prepare for your finest hour  
**_

* * *

Ruby soared.

She felt the cool autumn air whip through her hair and clothes as for a moment, she was weightless. Then she landed, craters emanating from her feet, as she quite literally hit the ground running. She dashed with inhuman speed, diving over various rooftops and around air conditioners and under ventilation shafts. Her hood was up as lights roamed over the roofs of Vale, tracking an incredibly specific target.

As Ruby rounded a corner, soaring high, the light caught her.

 _Crap._

She landed on all fours roughly but transitioned to a roll partway through, a feat of athleticism only possible due to her abilities. A Human would've died. Ruby kept running, attempting to evade the spotlight that stuck to her evasive form like glue. A voice on a megaphone up above shouted so loudly it was practically inside Ruby's ear.

"STOP! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST! COME PEACEFULLY OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"

It was a simple command. Ruby had no intention of obeying it. She slid under a ventilation duct and immediately turned on her heel, kicking up gravel. The sensation of rushing wind once again met her face as she briefly crouched then leapt. As she fell, she saw it before she heard it. An object of silver metal protruding from the side of the Police Airship. Ruby widened her eyes as everything slowed, watching it light up the dark sky in her direction. Her torso bent inhumanly on instinct as she spun midair, fitting her slim torso between the fist-sized shells. To her side, building's side exploded in a raw display of heat and glass. Thousands of reflections of Ruby's determined expression flew through the new sky, twinkling in the night...

* * *

 _ **This will be the day we've waited for!**_

* * *

…before Ruby's perception of time returned to normal and all that was left of the missed shot was glittering hail and a puff of smoke.

The first shot seemed to only be the beginning, as moments later the quiet of the night was split by bursts of high caliber explosive ordinance. Ruby dodged under a barrage and watched the metal turn to shrapnel before her eyes, sliding through the resulting wreck with her arms protectively crossed over her face. Sooner or later, one of those shots would hit. Ruby needed an escape. Now.

Her eyes moved with inhuman dexterity as she evaluated her surroundings in the space of a moment. The distraction was brief, yet long enough for a bullet to tear apart the air and pass Ruby's face, so close she could feel the heat of the screeching metal.

Lesson learned. Keep running.

She dug her fingers into a wall to swing her momentum around a corner, leaving a trail of dust and debris in her wake. A second spotlight came into view as she ran along the wall, and hesitated briefly before it too opened fire.

The explosions racked the building to the core, every spot Ruby touched detonating half a moment later. She moved faster than ever, darting across the building's face in a desperate bid to avoid the deadly projectiles. This pilot, however, was a markedly better shot than his compatriot. By the end of the wall, he had successfully led his target, and fired a full barrage into Ruby's back.

Ruby twisted agilely between the bullets, only for one to catch her side and explode midair. Ruby rocketed from the blast, crash landing on another rooftop in a heap of blood and limbs. She was only down and out for a moment, throwing herself to her haunches as blood spewed constantly from her side. Yet it was still enough for the Airships to move in, hovering over her position and lining up another barrage with ruthless precision.

Ruby's crouched form vanished in a deluge of bullets, blowing apart the roof in a near-constant fiery explosion. Ten seconds passed quickly as hell was rained on the child, the night sky brightening under the intense usage of such devastating weaponry.

The smoke lingered as debris continued to rain. The lights failed to pierce the smoke, showing only nebulous shadows. Finally, when it cleared, nothing remained, the roof having collapsed utterly. Moments later, the building groaned, and slowly began to implode into a pile of rubble.

* * *

Silence reined in Roman Torchwick's luxurious home for a moment. The holographic news footage cut to another building, this one miraculously still standing. The sign of Club 3B, with a reversed '3'. Junior's club. That was now apparently filled with Valen Security. At least in the back hallways, where the most illegal things happened. Such as Roman's info deals to secure his Dust shipments. And to stave off the perpetual threat of his imminent assassination.

Roman twirled his cigar between his fingers deftly, before stopping to take another drag. He exhaled slowly, smoke briefly interfering with the holographic display and glitching the color and quality. Then the cigar crumbled, crushed in his grip, as Roman's notorious temper that put many raging fires to shame was brought to bear. He simmered where he sat, eyes wide, positively livid _._

"Always a showman, Ruby," he growled aloud. "You're making me look normal by comparison..."

* * *

 _ **Welcome to a world of bloody evolution  
**_

* * *

 _"Hello, and welcome back to the Silver Bulletin. I'm your hostess as ever, Sterling Silver. There has been several major events in Remnant the past week, the most local of which happened as recently as last night. It was 10:23pm on a chilly autumn evening when reports of gunfire and an explosive detonation came in from a downtown nightclub known as 'Club 3B.' Vale's own mass murdering terrorist 'Red' was spotted fleeing the scene, and is currently presumed dead after a deadly airship chase. Security has not confirmed anything yet, but early estimations and interviews suggest that Club 3B was home to a mass homicide of 18 victims, making this the third largest massacre in Vale City history, and Red's third confirmed appearance. Like always, there are currently no known survivors of the attack._

 _"We will be performing a segment on the life of Vale's bloodiest serial killer later in the month, on the 27th at our usual time, separating the facts from the CCTN rumors. Coming up, growing concerns over the increased armament buildups of Private Military Companies worldwide, potential attendees for the upcoming Vytal Festival in Vacuo, and the inspiring story of a local man and his dog faunus best friend. We'll be right back after these messages."_

* * *

"So how'd you escape?"

"Oh, the first couple shots blew open the ground at my feet, so I kinda just... fell down."

"Wow. You _accidentally_ evaded custody. Imagine what you could do if you actually tried." Emerald deadpanned sarcastically. Ruby pouted. Emerald was _definitely_ picking up other people's traits. Now she was acting like Mercury.

"Well, if you ignore that bit at the end, I think what I did was _cool_." Here, Ruby decided to demonstrate, in miniature. "At first I was all like - _hwah!"_ She jumped two inches off the ground. "Then I was like - _huphuphuphup_." She ran in place. "But then - _kaboom!"_ Her arms spread as wide as she could, mimicking the size of the explosion. "So I was like 'missed me'! And ran on the wall like a ninja! I'm basically a super hero."

"You cost the city millions of Lien in property damage."

"Eh, Anti-hero. Close enough, right?"

"Those are two completely different things."

Despite herself, Ruby smiled.

She was extremely grateful to have this, even if it wasn't quite what it was before, for many reasons. Considering how their last conversation went, she felt certain that Emerald had burned all bridges, even those as meaningless as small talk, and yet here they were. That, and talking with friends (?) was also an extremely effective way of staving off the existential dread and guilt of being a monster that ate people to survive. To say nothing of the pending dire scolding Ruby was to receive from her big brother and guardian, Roman Torchwick. On the list of Ruby's priorities however, it lay low, at the back of her mind by way of conscious effort as her focus was directed forward. Roman could wait. Making amends often could not.

While their relationship had never been warm, considering Emerald's bitter pragmatism and mean streak, it had never been this glacial. Three words had swept away years of effort, as Emerald returned to the same even-toned dead-eyed girl she was when Ruby first met her. Fortunately, the solution was quite simple. Paddle harder. Unfortunately, the implementation was rather complex. How do you make someone like you? Especially if they dislike you? Ruby had exempted herself from these questions because she never felt they were important, as her friendly personality made quick friends with most. Her place within the iceberg had only been acquired due to the exceptional circumstances through which Ruby and Emerald met, and served as one of the few exceptions in either of their lives. But when somebody didn't _want_ to be friends, didn't _want_ to open up, it was less an art of supportively cushioning the fall and more of carefully chiseling an extremely delicate shell, where a single misplaced motion made the effort infinitely harder. All in a desperate effort to even glimpse what lay inside.

People, Ruby surmised, were hard. It definitely didn't help that she wasn't exactly a people person.

Some may ask what Ruby stood to gain. To her, the thought was backwards. Ruby wondered what she had to lose. If you're going to see someone a lot, why not at least get along? Their last conversation had revealed, however, that even 'getting along' would take truly herculean effort. Especially when one was as deeply conflicted and troubled as Ruby. Still. She couldn't in good conscience not try her very best. Her only hope was that one day, perhaps a day sooner than she thought, Emerald would be able to smile outside of brutalizing someone. To be happy, without constraints.

It'd be incredible to be a super hero for a change, instead of an anti-hero.

The disagreement likely could've continued for a while longer, had someone not walked up to them. Emerald raised a brow - okay, that was _exactly_ how Mercury did it too, Emerald had to be doing this intentionally - while Ruby's head was rather slow to turn. She sheepishly stared up at her guardian and resident Crime Lord of Vale, Roman Torchwick, who was absolutely fuming. Ruby almost thought she saw smoke coming out of his ears.

"Ruby." And that all but confirmed it. He _never_ said her name, not unless- "We need to talk." His eyes tightened. "Now."

Ruby also almost thought she saw the faintest hints of sympathy in Emerald's eyes.

* * *

 _"Why did you do it?" The Hero asked the Villain, lording above with his magical weapon held aloft. The Villain's laboratory fell apart around them, a world of fire and debris, years of effort and scheming laid waste in hours._

 _"You couldn't possibly understand." The Villain said back, gritting his teeth as his fatal wounds steadily drained him of his vitality. There was nothing but conviction and hatred in his eyes, the spark of life already within the reaper's grasp. "No one can. You think you're not the Villain in this, but you are. Everything I did, I did for Remnant and Humanity, 'Hero'."  
_

 _"Perhaps. Perhaps, the villain of your story, is yourself."_

Ruby sighed. She never realized just how much her life resembled a story until she couldn't even read her favorite comics without feeling personally attacked. She stared at the detailed expression of the villain, nothing more than lines and color on a page, and still felt as though she was being purposefully reminded of her conversation with Roman. Which, as most expected, went exceptionally poorly, as well as being as traumatically memorable. Now Ruby was stuck in her room, laying on her bed and trying to forget something she should absolutely be focusing on right now, to little success. Her idle mind wandered, rolling onto her back and staring at nothing in particular. As it would, it drifted of its own accord to one of the very things she wanted to avoid thinking about.

Several months ago, Ruby started having very unusual dreams. While Ruby didn't exactly need to sleep, it was faster than simply waiting for her vitality to return. On occasion, the dreams could even be entertaining. These dreams, however, seemed to serve a far different purpose.

Ruby remembered blood. An ocean of blood had swept through and left the world soaked red in its wake. Tears burned down her cheeks as agony tore apart her soul. Screams echoed, the audible remnants of something terrible reverberating in her ears. And, off to the side, a bloodied form lay facing away, trailing golden hair, red blossoming. It was only a moment in time, and yet it stretched forever, Ruby carrying the terrible concoction of dread and sorrow to waking world every time. Something absolutely terrible happened in that room. And Ruby hadn't the stomach to truly contemplate what it may be. Because one of the most probable answers was that she had kil-

Ruby ended that line of thought with extreme prejudice, shutting her eyes tightly to hold back the tears at the mere thought. Something as vile as her abilities squirmed on the edges of her mind and heart. If that theory was true, (pleasenopleasenopleaseno) then Ruby's mind would shatter completely, and madness would twist the cracks together into something truly abominate. Of only that brutal fact among her dark and chaotic life, she was absolutely certain.

She didn't even know Yang. The version of herself that existed during the first 5 years of her life probably did, but _she_ , the one with the massive memory gap, didn't. Other memories bubbled to the surface like the last vestiges of a diver who'd drowned at the bottom of the ocean. She remembered her enormous golden hair, her radiant smiles, and mesmerizing eyes. But the images were just that, images. They told her about Yang as much as a photograph would. What drove her to find her were the powerful emotions those images drew from Ruby's soul with ease, the conditioned attachments she had to someone she didn't even know the name of until a couple months ago. A single smile could fill Ruby's whole miserable day with warmth, and an inspiring glance could grant her the strength to overcome any hardship. The part of her that knew how to eat people and to shapeshift also said that she needed to find her, because she was her sister. And that's what sisters do for one another.

And that was that. Ruby considered the potential discoveries of the origins of herself and her powers as merely added benefits. It would be nice to finally know, but only one thing gave Ruby the warmth to survive the perpetual autumn chill. A dazzling smile, bright eyes, and the emotion Ruby knew beyond any doubt was love. Not the tough love of Roman, or whatever the hell emotion Cinder felt towards her. Just love. Pure, optimistic, and hopeful. After years of drowning, it was the first breathe of air she'd ever had. And she would fight like hell to keep it.

The Hero of her favorite story was motivated by a need to do the right thing, regardless of the cost. Ruby was too selfish for that, she was ashamed to admit in not quite those words. She didn't have the courage to be a hero. Her idle hand sought an empty spot on her sternum, where something precious once was. But she could help those around her. It was the only compromise her conscience could even remotely tolerate.

Her bed vibrated. Ruby felt her face heat up before realizing it was just her scroll, sighing as she fished it out from beneath her covers. She had one new notification.

 _I have what you want._

She double blinked in confusion.

"Well, that's totally not weird at all." Roman's sarcasm was evidently beginning to rub off on her, if it hadn't already.

She read the message several times, noting that the sender did indeed not have any contact details. Not even the basic silhouetted humanoid profile picture standard of all scrolls, unless manually changed. Dimly, she realized this wasn't her scroll. All of the messages on it were in some kind of code, even the IDs. This message was the only exception, an especially disturbing exception at that. There was only two people Ruby could think of right now that would have an encrypted scroll. One of them was dead, and the other one was already furious with her. Monster-Ruby must have snagged Junior's scroll during the mayhem. Or while it was... yeah. Sighing as the sword of Roman continued to hang above her, she browsed through the scroll, attempting to confirm her suspicions. Her not-inconsequential effort went unrewarded, however, as she wondered how she would decipher the scroll. Junior covered his tracks well enough. Unfortunately for him, the name 'Junior' was something of an open secret in the Valen underworld. Though his real name was considerably harder to find, and if Ruby wasn't Roman's charge, she'd likely have never found it. And without it, he never would've talked to her, presuming her to just be some kid.

She paused, then smacked her forehead. "Duh." She closed her eyes, and focused inward, looking for thoughts not her own. The same screaming faces as in her nightmares met her, webbing off into the furthest reaches of her mind, forever caught in their last moments. She deftly moved past that, and found what she was looking for.

Her eyes opened, now as brown as Junior's, and began to read, smiling as understanding blossomed within her. Man, Junior had some friends in high places. Some of them he was afraid to name, even under the guise of some nonsensical code he probably made up. Roman always said that it wasn't paranoia if you were right, and in Junior's case, considering who he knew? He was a dead man if even half this stuff came out.

Well... dead- _er_.

Ruby held back a giggle. She sincerely hoped she wasn't developing a sense of humor centered on dead people, because it was hard enough to make friends already, what with crippling social anxiety and the whole eating people thing, not to mention her line of work. The last thing she needed was to become _weirder_. Her scroll buzzed again, interrupting her revelry. The mirth vanished from her face immediately.

 _I know you are not Junior._

Attached to the message was a video. Ruby, still apprehensive, nonetheless tapped the icon and was greeted with a disturbingly familiar scene. Twelve tendrils were surging forth the end the lives of as many men, a single bearded man with a rocket launcher standing among them, paralyzed as they were dragged towards the creature's devouring skin. The short frame of the monster was dark, yet uncovered by black armor was a pale face shrouded by a red hood. Peering our from underneath was a young girl with red, hungry eyes. Ruby dropped the scroll and bolted, hand on her mouth as she sought out her bathroom. She practically collapsed upon her toilet, and with no more theatrics, heaved. Even after her stomach was emptied, she continued to gasp and choke, her revulsion attempting to force out something that was no longer there. The video was only a visual recording, but Ruby's near-perfect memory supplied the accompanying sound with ease. Now more than ever, she was desperately trying to keep that door closed. Even while an impossibly strong monster tried to force its way through, she held on. It grew stronger the more heed she paid it, yet it also thrived in the dark. The door began to bend, buckling at the corners as something with red eyes and thousands of screaming faces peered through the cracks. Ruby fell back, writhing on the bathroom floor like a drug addict in withdrawal, skin literally crawling as she suffered its gaze.

Much the same, she honestly thought she wouldn't make it, feeling the sanity drain from her mind like blood from an open vein. She drew herself tightly together, trembling as tears flowed freely down her face. The psychological struggle between Ruby and Monster-Ruby waged on, as no clear victor emerged from the violent confrontation. Skin shifted, bones writhed, and limbs twisted as the red seeped into Ruby's iris'.

Then, as quickly as the attack started, it ended. The redness receded, the monster slinking back to the far corners of Ruby's consciousness. Ruby breathed heavily, tears cool on her flushed face. The feeling in her limbs returned slowly, and once they had, she wished they remained numb. Her limbs were twisted very uncomfortably, almost like a knot. Carefully, tenderly, she untangled them, feeling her bones shift and crack into place with a painful grimace. Long after her limbs returned to their natural positions, she continued to lay on her side, letting the tile cool her unbearably warm skin. She was truly a pathetic sight, trembling like an infant as the horror of the incident overtook her. The distant words of her conversation with Roman flowed through her chaotic mind, as though the monster was taunting her, forcing her to realize her impending fate...

* * *

 _ **In time, your heart will open minds  
A story will be told  
**_

* * *

...a considerably more disheveled Ruby emerged from the bathroom, expression held tight by determination.

She found Junior's scroll right where she'd left it. A new message awaited her.

An address, and a time, three days from now. 1 million Lien. _Come alone. Meet all our demands, or Red's identity goes public within the hour._ Blackmail, plain and simple.

She contemplated what to do with the scroll. There was a high probability it was bugged. But it also served as her only line to her blackmailers. Reluctantly, she decided to hold onto it. There was the potential value in holding onto Oum-knows amounts of blackmail of her own, but that was secondary. Maintaining her secrecy was paramount. As was fixing her mistakes. She held no illusions about seedy opportunists - she literally lived with one - or bad luck. This was her doing. This was her fault.

And it was up to her to atone.

* * *

 _ **And victory is in a simple soul!**_

* * *

 _ **This Chapter May Also Be Named (TCMABN for short) - Two adults fantasize about what they'd do to 13 year old girl Anti-Hero for different reasons.**_

 _ **Question. Is there a ship with Ruby and Emerald? If so, and it is not called Tourmaline, then I will be very very disappointed.**_

 _ **Hint: This is not because Ruby/Emerald is a thing in this story, this is not an official announcement, this is not an 'april fools'.**_

 _ **oR iS iT?!1? No. It is not.**_

 _ **Fact fun: After I finished this chapter, I had a shower and sang This Life is Mine at the top of my lungs, I was so happy to get this done.**_

 _ **That should conclude my tired musings. Chapter 3 revision is gonna be out whenever. Review please.**_


	3. Ladies love it!

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Ladies love it!_

 ** _If you can understand where this is going based solely on the chapter name, then you have my utmost respect, fellow Mega-Virgin._**

 ** _Also, as per a certain suggestion from a certain review... the chapters of the old story have been Infinity War'd. So you know._**

* * *

 _"There's another reason you went to see Junior, wasn't there?" Roman said, not quite asking so much as stating. Ruby's response was hampered by the sight of the bound hooded figure kneeling before Roman, limp in his binds like a man fated to die. Which, most likely, he was going to. Soon._

 _Still, she managed to break her macabre curiosity away from the kneeling figure and towards her mentor and guardian, Roman Torchwick, Crime Lord of Vale. "What," she swallowed in a desperate attempt to assuage the dryness overtaking her body, "makes you s-say that?" She was stuttering, a nervous child at the altar of their furious parent. Except that Roman harbored every possibility that he could do something far, far worse than a parent ever would to their child._

 _"Patterns, Red." He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "People are just patterns. Except you've been deviating. Something's up with you."_

 _Ruby lowered her eyes. She'd known him long enough to know he'd caught on. He took it as confirmation, pried out without all the grisly foreplay that usually made it fun. Yet even he could not extract blood from a stone, nor fun from a devastating failure._

 _Roman raised his cane, levying it at Ruby as though seconds away from blowing her apart. "You're messy, but you're not sloppy. You don't leave survivors. Imagine my surprise when some of my men in Security find someone giving out a full description of my protégé, who'd snuck out the back door while his boss was getting eaten." With his other hand, he pulled the hood from the dead man free like a showman pulling a cloth from a table. A familiar face, bruised and beaten, emerged. Grass green eyes stared mutely at the floor, squinted at the sudden harsh light after hours of darkness. Then they looked up, slowly, and widened incredulously at the sight of a girl with silver eyes._

 _Ruby mirrored his expression._

 _"I believe you two have already met," Roman stated for needless dramatic effect. "Unfortunately, I don't think you two have been properly introduced. Ruby, this is TJ. TJ, this is Ruby. Say hello, darling." He gave a winning smirk, the sort that most would find irresistibly charming. Ruby wasn't looking at it. Thoughts and feelings of blood and crushed bone and sinew flowed between her fingers like paste, fear and adrenaline screaming her prey's imminent death. A miniature war was fought to keep Monster-Ruby from fulfilling that premonition, simple commands of_ leave him _and_ not yet _barely managing to assuage the beast. It left him dying instead, skin writhing as it devoured the contents residing on her palm, erasing all evidence that she'd so much as touched him. The whole time, another face had watched, expecting his own death. One that did not come._

 _Until now._

 _"You left him alive on purpose, didn't you?" Ruby flinched, her ruse continuing to fall apart like shattered glass. "What were you thinking?" He said as much to himself as to her, free hand seeking out his favorite vice. The smoke heightened the seediness of the dark atmosphere, a perfect accompaniment to the immaculate appearance of Roman Torchwick as he held a life in his luxuriously gloved hands. "Put your face on the nine o' clock news and have the media do the work of finding your sister for you? Was that it? How unbelievably stupid can you get?" Ruby's fist balled tightly, tears welling up as the criticism hit deep. She had no recourse. There was nothing she could say that would disprove him. His last comment sealed the deal.  
_

 _"What makes you think your 'sister' would want anything to do with a monster?"_

 _Ruby almost collapsed, the comment striking her harder than any physical blow, carrying with it far more truth than Roman could ever know. Her whole body trembled and twitched in places, the tears hot and heavy on her pale face._

 _"I... had to do something... in case Junior was just another dead end..." She said weakly as she struggled to withstand the truth of her actions. It was unbelievably stupid. She was perfectly aware. She was also unbelievably desperate, driven to do just about anything - truly anything - if it meant finding her sister. Because she knew Yang would do the same for her. She hoped that Yang would understand, that she couldn't help it, it wasn't her but the_ thing _within that made her kill and maim... Ruby would understand. Or, she thought she would understand, were the roles reversed. The more scrutiny her actions were held under, the worse they seemed, and the more Roman's seething rage was justified. Not only had she crippled his infrastructure, the one he depended on to manage his international empire and avoid the perpetual threat of Regicide, but for reasons that made exceptionally little sense. Except to a child. A stupid, arrogant child who thought it would just all work out because she felt as though there was no other option. The kind that lived in fairy tales._

 _She'd been hunting down Yang for months. Months. And she had nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing. Was it no wonder that she was so desperate? That when she felt so strongly about her sibling, she would go to such incredible lengths? What was the expression about good intentions?_

 _Ruby closed her eyes, unable to meet Roman's gaze. She had made a mistake. One for which she had to atone._

* * *

 _TJ watched in pure confusion, utterly out of the loop. "What the fuck is going on...?" He tried to whisper through the gag._

* * *

 _Something rammed against the door. Ruby jolted upright, eyes wide in alarm. Roman's expression turned quizzical, before understanding slowly dawned on him."I think this concludes my part of the parental punishment..._ " _Roman remarked, edging away from his charge. "She's all yours!" And ran like the wind, Ruby falling to her knees as flesh bent before her very eyes. TJ was staring at the girl with ever increasing concern, until he was out and out screaming into the gag. Ruby's concern almost matched his. She never lost control this easily before. What was...?_

 _She opened her eyes. Blood stained the floor, but the body was nowhere to be found. Ruby blinked lethargically, a strange wave of tiredness settling in her frame. She looked at her hands. Prehensile claws took the place of her fingers, dripping red. Then gravity seemingly reversed. The blood flowed upwards, trailing towards her kneeling form in great red rivers. Where it touched her body, it vanished, siphoned instantly. All the while Ruby's eyes fluttered, fighting a war against confusion and what felt like weeks of sleep depravation simultaneously. They gently fell, lower and lower, darkness setting in where she wasn't looking. Soon she couldn't see at all, color blurring and edges losing definition. A great fear overtook her that she might not wake up again. Finally, the silver eyes closed, entombed in darkness._

 _A voice screamed her name._

 _Ruby's eyes burst open, dispelling the swirling blood and darkness. She searched for the familiar face she suddenly hoped to see, but it was not there. She exhaled deeply, then collapsed, limbs seemingly inoperable as her exhaustion drew worse. She could barely breathe, but she could all the same. Dark heels greeted her downcast vision. Her eyes widened not out of desperation, but realization, and fear._

 ** _"My,_ _my."_** _said Cinder Fall, the Witch's Acolyte and Ruby's teacher. " **We need to talk, don't we, child?"**_

 _If she could still utilize her limbs, Ruby would feel them quiver._

* * *

 _ **There's a point where it tips, there's a point where it breaks  
There's a point where it bends**_

 _ **And a point where we just can't take, anymore...**_

* * *

Ruby's consciousness slowly returned to the waking world.

The first thing she noticed was the incredible pain tearing up her back, the kind that followed a fatal blow. One that was usually healed by the time she'd awoken. She forced open her eyes, so heavy and so light at the same time, only for it to make no difference. She was laying on something incredibly uncomfortable, unable to so much as twitch for fear of worsening the agony of her ruined back. Little by little, ebbs of strength and willpower returned to her, until with an agonized shout she forced herself upright. The cool metal was heavenly on her back, as was the structure after what must have been hours of poor posture. Now much more mentally present, she turned her efforts towards understanding just where the hell she was, what had happened and _ow ow why am I not healing ow ow ow_.

The near total darkness and absolute silence of her cell (?) was perfect for this. It was also how she finally noticed that she was missing an arm...

* * *

 _ **No bridges left to burn, anymore...**_

* * *

"13... 13... um... is that the platform or the train?" The girl mused aloud. It wasn't exactly like she needed most forms of transport, some exceptions aside (she was still working on gills). The abnormally busy train section of the transportation station made finding her way around especially troublesome, lest she wanted to break more than a handful of bones. For many reasons, but one of course was that ever present hunger in the back of her mind, intensified by the sheer quantity of warm bodies surrounding her. She was lucky that her... attacks, seemed to have abated for now, even if it was only the calm before the storm. The last thing she needed was _another_ incident, within as many days.

She idly brushed past an older married couple visibly well-off - and absolutely totally not pickpocketing their valuables all the while _no bad Ruby Roman has ruined you_ \- and found herself back where she started. Disorientation and humiliation were strongly present in her face, as she desperately sought out landmarks or anything of note. She refused to screw this one up simply because she didn't understand public transport. Was it a platform? The highest platform number only went to 12. Or... do they do it by train numbers, like buses? But the trains only projected destinations, not numbers. Her confusion intensified. Sheepish, she slinked away from the crowd and sought out an isolated bench.

She settled down, then making extra sure absolutely no one else could see her scroll, she brought it to life.

Blue eyes.

"Hello! How're-" The person greeting Ruby didn't get out more than three words before she had ascended to the heavens above, surprised beyond words at the sudden intrusion, juggling her scroll like a circus performer before catching it deftly. The young man watched in muted pause, hand raised in friendly greeting, only for it to slowly curl in confusion. "...you... doing... ?" He finished on a much quieter note than he'd started.

* * *

 _ **I've been watching you lately  
Chasing your tail and it's driving me crazy**_

* * *

Ruby was gripping her scroll to her chest like it was her firstborn. Her eyes flickered between the young man sitting beside her, and the holographic display humming into her chest cavity. His body language was as welcoming as could be, despite however much had turned to confusion that is. She exhaled calmly, turning off the scroll and shoving it back in her pocket. Immediately color rushed to her cheeks, searching for anything, literally any crummy excuse she could use to get away and message Roman.

"You're not so enthusiastic about crowds either, aren't you?" He gave a grin that at once eased Ruby's doubts. He was genuine. Whether that was for the better had yet to be seen. "You probably can't tell from just looking at me, but I uh..." he blushed, gesturing at himself. "I was also hiding here. And you seemed lost in thought, but you might have been ignoring me, so I kind of... just... said... stuff..." Ruby visibly watched his courage wilt. His pleading expression to either end him or take the burden of conversation from him was not lost on her. She knew exactly how that felt. Despite how unbelievably awkward the situation was, Ruby couldn't help but smile.

* * *

 _ **I've been spending time, wondering why  
Nothing that I can do can catch your eye  
**_

* * *

The expression was easily returned by the boy, the two of them sharing a poignant moment of connection that only the fastest of friends could make. "I know what that's like." Ruby responded honestly. "You see someone you think is like you, so you try and get their attention and hope it works out." He nodded, visibly pleased that she understood on such a personal level. "Sometimes it works. Usually it doesn't..." she trailed off, looking far and away. "I have like... three friends. Mostly because we're forced together a lot." She smiled faintly, lowering her gaze. "Well… maybe five?" Her expression was momentarily marred by a wince, painful memories evidently still fresh in her mind. "It's... complicated." At that, the teen smiled back.

"I think we all have relationships that are complicated." He said without saying. He was visibly getting more comfortable in his own skin every moment. "If you know someone long enough, you learn a lot about them." Ruby nodded, absolutely oblivious despite paying attention to the notably tall teen's warm blue eyes. "I wouldn't mind if our relationship got complicated."

If Ruby was drinking something, she'd have spat it out.

* * *

 _ **Maybe I'm too tall or not your type,**_  
 _ **But I'm not giving up, I'll get it right.**_

* * *

Poor Ruby, student of the Witch's Acolyte, pseudo-sister of the Crime Lord of Vale, and people-eating monster by night, was caught utterly off-guard by the most mundane of teenage woes - terrible pickup lines.

As it was, she was completely lost for words, as the teen gave a winning smile. The pain in his eyes betrayed his outward confidence. He was almost certainly being put up to this. Not that Ruby could recognize the signs. Social awkwardness unfortunately was a strong correlative with, and potential cause of, social illiteracy. So she was silent, as was he, the awkwardness intensifying like a simmering heat. Finally, it broke with a single, honest question.

"Are you... hitting on me?"

The flushed expression of the boy turned even redder. "Ah... was I... not being... obvious... enough... ?" The genuine undertone to his question only heightened the feeling in Ruby's chest. Without further preamble, she grasped her sides and laughed like she hadn't in years, falling off the bench and kicking her legs in the air.

The boy's indignation was obvious, expression souring in resigned sorrow. He'd expected this - worse, his nightmare had been realized. She was laughing at him, making a scene, and any second now she'd point to him and regale the impromptu audience with his failed attempts at socializing. He cut his losses. "Okay then... sorry to bother you. I'll just... go." He spun on his heel, defeated, and began to walk away.

Ruby wiped away a tear, mirth ending at a miraculous time, sitting up just as the boy turned his back. Immediately she noticed her wrongdoing, feeling oppressed beneath the judging eyes of the nearby civilians, and got to her feet. He was walking away. Shame for her mistake and public outcry flooded through her. She reached out.

"Wait!"

* * *

 _ **I see more in you  
Than the rest of them do  
**_

* * *

Warmth.

The boy stopped, for he could not move. His arm felt bolted in place, enshrouded in calming heat. He blinked twice in confusion, then turned.

Green eyes wide with honest regret stared deeply into his own, a honest soul meeting another. A spark ignited, its warmth guiding their clasped hands. The girl who meant no harm but whose very existence beget it, and the boy who sought purpose and found none.

"I... wasn't laughing at you." She stated honestly, refusing to let go or look away. Courage burned in her honest eyes. "It's just, nobody has ever... done that to me before." Pain welled up in her soul as the unbroken gaze revealed deep vulnerability, yet she persevered. "Maybe for now, let's just be... friends?" She said with a smile that would shatter the cruelest of resolve, and melted away his sorrows.

He smiled, eyes softening. He had to be strong, or whatever he thought that meant. "Sure." He returned her grasp with a firm hold, internally surprised to find her meeting it easily. Damn, she was stronger than she looked. The moment lasted longer than it needed to, though neither seemed to notice or mind. A well-off married couple, despite recently being robbed, looked on with knowing looks and hopeful expressions, fingers intertwined.

"Whoever that thief was will get what's coming to them, but those two - those two deserve a long and happy life." The husband said gruffly through his thick mustache, voice brimming with gentlemanly poise, before facing his wife. "What say you, wife of mine?"

The wolf faunus in question, eyes a muted gold and covered ears a dull grey, merely chuckled. "Oh, Peter. Ever the romantic."

"Oh, you know it, dear." They chuckled together as only a married couple could, nuzzling noses and cooing happily as they walked away, hand in hand.

* * *

 _ **I'll swallow my pride  
Time after time  
Cuz you're worth it all  
**_

* * *

"Who were they?" The tall teen asked, brow drawn tight. Ruby was busy trying not to sweat through her clothes.

"No idea." She said a little too quickly. "So, uh... what's your name?" She said, trying to talk about literally anything else. The boy spent only a moment longer wondering about the couple before answering with a smile.

"Jaune. Just Jaune. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it." Ruby's mouth opened slightly in mute shock, something that Jaune noticed immediately. "Are you... okay?"

"No, no I'm fine." She shook her head, then said "it's a little odd because... I don't have a last name either." What a coincidence that was. Something passed through Jaune's eyes too quickly for Ruby to catch, but not nearly fast enough for her to miss. She let it go for now.

"So what's your name?" He asked. She smiled, and sealed her fate.

"Ruby. Just Ruby. Nice to meet you, Just Jaune."

* * *

 _ **But what do I have to do to make you notice me?**_

* * *

A single bead of perspiration rolled down Jaune's forehead, then another, and another. The warmth of Ruby's palm had seemingly spread to the rest of his body. Perplexed, he turned to the crowd, a sinking feeling in his gut. Almost all of them were sweating, some more excessively, some more minorly. Only Ruby remained unfazed. Noticing his discomfort, Ruby finally let go of Jaune's hand and asked "what's wrong?"

Jaune felt the sweat soak his scalp and clothes, some of it now brought on by panic. "Can't you feel that? The heat?" Ruby shook her head.

"Could it just be the weather?" A tinge of worry had entered her voice as well. Panic spread through the crowd, many beginning to notice the extremely peculiar heat spell that had overtaken the train station. One older woman even fainted, a cry of worry shouting for someone to call Emergencies. The toupee of another elderly person caught fire, causing him to run about and scream in terror. "Okay... guess not."

Jaune felt it before he saw it, as did Ruby. In a flash, Jaune's jacket came off, revealing his metal breastplate, as his shield was drawn and braced. Less than a millisecond later, the largest bullet Ruby had ever seen collided with the shield, and promptly ricocheted to the side, more barging past the shield than being deflected. He could still feel the raw power behind such a large projectile, as it nearly tore his shield arm off from the impact. Ruby, who was busy clinging to Jaune's waist - she'd have time to be embarrassed later - promptly stepped aside and assessed the damage.

Behind them, the wall exploded in shrapnel suffused fire, adding yet more heat to the unbearably hot atmosphere.

Jaune instinctively wrapped around Ruby, shield battered with crumbling debris and high-velocity shards of metal. Jaune grit his teeth as the hits kept coming in, his shield arm in serious need of a long rest. Ruby finally began to feel the heat, though not for the reasons one might think. The barrage ended just as Jaune thought his arm was going to give out, sighing in relief, but not lowering his shield.

"You can uh... let go of me now." Jaune looked down and almost flipped out, spluttering as he sprang away like a cat sprayed with water. The levity lasted only a moment, however, once they both saw the pandemonium around them.

No one was left standing. In seconds, the train station had gone from uncomfortably warm to a sauna, denizens of which were long beyond the point of pore cleansing and straight into torture. People panted and gasped as they sweated valuable salt, skin shrinking as dehydration set in. Others who were unfortunate enough to be close to evaporating moisture screamed as their flesh seared from bone, the steam viciously tearing off meat like locusts. One poor soul was caught while drinking from the water fountain, the flesh adhering to the metal locking her in place as her face was blasted with boiling water. She could only scream in agony as her flesh evaporated in clouds of steams.

The teens watched all of this in horror, Ruby beginning to cry only for the tears to turn to acid on her face. She screamed, and Jaune reached out, shouting her name - "RUBY!" - only for Ruby to step back.

"It's fine!" She slowly retracted her hands, revealing her undamaged flesh, leaving Jaune with even more questions than he started with. At his confused look, she responded "we can talk later, okay? I don't think-"

The message was lost to the moisture filled wind as something came roaring in, the other largest bullet Ruby had ever seen. Jaune deftly raised his arm to block the shot before getting tackled by Ruby, the shell narrowly missing. Her instinctive guess proved right when the shell donated midair, likely eviscerating Jaune if it had landed. Shrapnel pierced her side as the heat continued to escalate, Jaune panting and heaving beneath her. She got up quickly, crying out "we need to get out of here!"

"W-wait..." Jaune panted, fumbling to his feet. The atmosphere had rendered him almost deliriously, sapping his strength, yet he still stood. "We need to get these people out of here..." Even such a short statement left him breathless. Ruby shook her head, desperate.

"We don't have time! If whoever's doing this has a reason," she swallowed, the heat finally getting to her. "Then it's me. I'm their target." She had a sudden thought. "You get these people out of here. I'm going to lead whoever it is away." Before he could respond, Ruby pulled Jaune with her, throwing themselves behind cover as another shot detonated right where they were.

Jaune looked down at her with incredible determination. "I'm not leaving you." He grasped her hands. "Let's help these people. Together."

Ruby smiled, feeling a strange coldness despite the heat, unable to spare the tears necessary to express her pain. "I'm not worth saving."

Fire and shrapnel erupted from the wall beside them. Blood splattered, rubble crushed. Then there was only darkness.

* * *

 _ **Sorry about that, folks. I have no idea if anyone has actually read the proper ending to chapter 3. This rehash should suffice, hopefully. But man, this bug that erases newer versions of chapters is a pain in the ass.**_

 _ **Review pls.**_


	4. Ladies love it! - Part 2

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Ladies love it! - Part 2_

 ** _Yes, this was honestly the best idea I had for a chapter name. S-shut up, what are you working for, Salem!?_**

 ** _May 5th, 2019: So funny story. I was looking through my story to check for errors I might want to fix up before I went ahead and wrote this chapter when I discovered that there was a significant disconnect between the ff dot net preview of my story and the actual story. For whatever reason, the actual chapter I wrote is different to the one I have, because the one I have is an older version that was still incomplete. Really. Also, potentially agonizing to deal with. Anyway, that's why chapter 1 has a different ending now, because I only discovered this issue after I had souped up an ending to chapter 1 in 30 odd seconds. Apologies if you liked the old ending better. If you liked it that much, maybe find it for me? I'd be grateful... (but I won't give you a prize. Hey, at least I'm honest)_**

 ** _May 12th, 2019: Fixed the same issue with chapter 3. Man, this is a weird bug. But, as Todd says..._**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy._**

* * *

It took a moment, perhaps longer than it should have, for Ruby to finally look at the stump that was her left arm and start freaking out.

She gingerly laid her fingers upon the flesh, conveniently bandaged yet still absent a whole arm. Nausea set in, her movements guided by some delirious, macabre curiosity born from sheer surrealism. Ruby truly thought madness was lingering at the edges of her mind as she touched the empty air, her limb well and truly gone. Her eyes glazed over as her vision unfocused, finer details merging together, unable to process the simple reality in front of her for fear of shattering her psyche. She collapsed, clutching something that was no longer there. Tears came unbidden. She cried for many things, for consciousness to return her to the waking world, for Roman or Cinder, but the nightmare was real, and no one was coming to save her.

Eons passed before Ruby finally moved again. Somehow, she'd ended up in the corner, attempting to make herself as small as possible. Distant thoughts and memories slowly returned to her as she idly brushed the bandages, almost bored enough to unravel them and see what horror lied underneath. Almost.

"Jaune…" she whispered, rasps drawn from an unbearably dry throat. "I'm... sorry..."

* * *

Darkness.

It crushed her, utterly oppressive with its weight and totality, obfuscating her mind and senses. Dull noise echoed from far beyond, ringing and ringing. The ever familiar scent of blood drifted easily through the cracks, where scattered beams of light broke through. The ringing continued to get louder and louder, the blood in her nose intensifying, until it reached a roaring crescendo and Ruby's eyes opened wide.

A pale arm burst through the pile of rubble, like a horror movie. A second arm followed, reaching out and grasping solid ground. Then they pushed in unison, and with a groan, Ruby pulled herself from the debris, blood covering half her face. The hellscape met her gaze, countless bodies bled of all moisture littering the boiling concrete and metal. The water fountain only emitted steam, its user's melted form permanently depressing the button. A single word came through amidst the haze of heat and death - _Jaune_ \- and suddenly Ruby was frantically prying apart the rubble. A bloodied arm was quickly uncovered, lifeless.

" _Jaune!_ "

She grasped Jaune's arm, trying to pull him free -

* * *

 _ **Gotta make you see me in that way**_

* * *

His arm came loose.

A booming voice filled the boiling air, taunting and arrogant. "This is what you get for messing with family, kiddo." Ruby ignored him, staring at the limb in her hands. It lasted only a long, dreadful moment until soft groaning emerged from the rubble. Hope renewed, Ruby dug faster, elbow deep in concrete when she finally met cloth, and pulled. Like a man stolen from the grave, Jaune was pulled from the shattered ground, skin almost mummified, head rolling limply in Ruby's grip. She panicked once more, shaking him, only then noticing the faint sizzling from his chest. Horrified, she ripped off the armor, tearing off more than metal at that, and pulled him close despite his horrific appearance.

"This is all my fault," she whispered into his lifeless body, unable to shed tears for someone who had done no wrong besides meeting the wrong person, face buried in what remained of his shirt. Then, unbelievably, she heard him breath. It was faint, but she could feel the slight rise and fall of his chest. She pulled back, uncaring of the agony from the tears of relief. He was alive. He could still be saved. As well as his arm. Where... where did she put it again?

The air whistled in imminent warning. Ruby's eyes hardened. In a blink, she was on her feet, arm raised. Red-black tendrils, normally her worst enemy, formed a protective wall of thorns.

"No."

The shell collided, the thorns curved inward to shape the fiery aftermath away from them. Ruby was pushed back several inches, but she held. She had more than herself to worry about after all.

"I don't care what you do to me..."

She pulled Jaune onto her shoulders, as delicately as she could afford to. Her knees bent as she prepared to run.

"...but you are not _messing with my friends_!"

Ruby took off like a bullet, deftly avoiding bodies and metal as much as possible. Her heart and the air roared in her ears, running past the aftermath of a short, violent confrontation for her life. The station had been shaken to its very core, catastrophic explosions warping its walls and metal support bending under the heat. A few well placed shots and the place would collapse.

Ruby went low with a power slide, transitioning Jaune to a bridal carry, shell passing through the air above them and blowing part another wall in a shower of fire and debris. Moments later, the path before her was shattered, something descended rapidly from the heavens, the ensuing shockwave of debris and dust obliterating the ground.

A figure merged from the haze of destruction. He had to be the tallest man Ruby had ever seen, and half as wide. He was unusually well-dressed for the occasion, missing a dress jacket, and bearing an uncanny familiarity. His bearded face twisted in a cocky smirk.

"You're not going anywhere, kiddo." His knuckles and neck cracked menacingly. He reached back, and withdrew the biggest gun Ruby had ever seen. The noise it made as he cocked it sounded like a reloading tank. Her awe intensified when his free arm withdrew a second one, each barrel bigger than her head, and aimed straight at her.

"I can't take back what you took from me." He growled, voice tainted by the faintest hint of sorrow, and overflowing with vengeance. In that moment, everything clicked. "But killing you, and everyone you love? Hell..." Junior's older brother smiled. There was no light in his eyes. "That's a start."

* * *

 _ **Now it's time to say goodbye**_

* * *

 _For Cinder, there were only two ways conflict was resolved - violently, and in her favor. In her own words, only struggle brought about truth. That, and in Ruby's personal experience, she loved killing people._

 _She'd been practically dragged to their training grounds, a loosely defined clearing dwelling deep within the brilliantly colorful forests of Vale, one of the kingdom's most distinguishing features. Blood-red leaves fluttered beneath the dark sky, listless trees swaying like sleepless men. Cinder had something to say, to 'talk' with Ruby about, and the only method by which she could possibly convey the message was pain. Pain and blood and violence._

 _The battle began wordlessly. Once, Ruby had waited for Cinder to start. It was a mistake she never made ever again._

 _The student leapt forward like a bullet, going low with a quick strike to the abdomen. The teacher dodged to the side and launched a brutal uppercut, the student avoiding the blow so narrowly the force of it whipped her hair back. Ruby leaned into Cinder's guard and rapidly struck her abdomen, landing three quick blows before Cinder's other arm was brought to bear and forced her back. Cinder followed, practically dancing as she shifted her center of gravity and drowned her student in furious kicks, the child barely managing to block the onslaught. She tried to get some distance, shaking her arms to get some circulation going, only for Cinder to keep pushing. Her knee flew into Ruby's arms, almost breaking them, then shifted again, heaving her other leg into Ruby's shoulder. Bones cracked as Ruby was tossed to the side, left arm barely functioning as Cinder readied her next fearsome attack._

 _The Witch's Acolyte continued her direct approach, flesh of her arm darkening as it headed straight for her student's skull. Ruby leaned back, and blocked the following blows with deft precision, only for Cinder's knee to catch her in the ribs. A vicious elbow strike pincered her chest between impossibly hard bone, driving the air from her lungs. Moving swiftly, Cinder spun and brutally connected her other knee with Ruby's face, throwing the child back with hurricane force. The combo didn't end, however, as Cinder grasped her student's cloak, briefly chastising the child aloud for her choice of loose attire. Ruby hadn't returned to full consciousness yet, but still felt the barrage of blows from Cinder's unrelenting fist, breaking her face slightly more each time it collided. Finally, needing her student alive, she gracefully finished the assault with a spinning kick, bending her student's spine almost in half from the herculean blow._

 _Ruby cratered. Dust and earth whipped up a storm, trees toppling as her small form broke through them, leaving only her beaten form vaguely visible within. She was certainly no longer in one piece. Cinder stood idly by, checking her nails. She tsk'ed in displeasure at discovering she had indeed embedded one in Ruby's face._

 _" **I see my advice on situational awareness is slow to set in**." She critiqued, clearly bored as she waited for her student to return to consciousness. " **Pay attention to your surroundings. Understand what your opponent will do before they do. And what, if you can remember, was the last one?** "_

 _The earth beneath her split apart as a pale fist emerged, straight for Cinder's face. Cinder almost rolled her eyes, blocking the blow with one hand easily, internally scolding her student for how much weaker she'd become after such light damage. " **Too sl-** "_

 _The rest of Ruby emerged separately, arm dangling from Cinder's grip as the child continued to rise, fist rapidly approaching Cinder's face. She smirked._

 _" **Better**." _

_The blow connected, Cinder's head whipping back from the force. Ruby was not done, using her one remaining arm to grasp Cinder's shirt, almost tearing it off in her haste to pull her close, and rammed her forehead right into her teacher's nose. Her litheness proved to her advantage as she wrapped her legs around Cinder's body, her inhuman agility facilitating an incredible feat of acrobatics as she bent over backwards. Her teacher was briefly airborne as she flew over her student's body, before forcibly taking a dirtnap. On a normal human, her spine would've shattered, leaving her body stuck out of the dirt like a lawn dart. Cinder only laughed lightly as her student collected her arm, wincing as she reattached it._

 _" **Throwing your severed arm at me as a distraction. Clever, but not clever enough.** " Cinder's body bent inhumanly as she planted her feet firmly on the dirt. She rose effortlessly, bones audibly cracking as she healed in moments. Despite her praise, her ember-like eyes betrayed nothing. " **You do not use your abilities. Why?** "_

 _Ruby knew Cinder. She knew this was a distraction. Yet as moments turned to minutes and Cinder continued to do nothing, arms crossed and eyes querying, doubt bloomed. Knowing she'd regret it, Ruby humored her._

 _"You know why."_

 _" **No. Something is** **different. You're even more reticent than usual.** " Cinder's stare intensified, as though prying apart Ruby's soul with looks alone. " **I do not respond well to secrets, especially childish ones.** " And wasn't that ironic, considering their line of work? " **Does this have to do with your recent... incident?** "_

 _Ruby held her stance, a deep cynic on all things Cinder. "You know, I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had. It's kinda sad."_

 _The look Cinder gave her would've killed lesser men. " **Your ability to deflect is terrible.** " That had more to do with her broken arm than anything, but that was clearly missing the point. Preemptively accepting her punishment if she was wrong, Ruby finally dropped her stance and sighed._

 _"The perks of being socially awkward." Ruby mumbled, unable to meet Cinder's intense eyes. The stare persisted, however, gradually burning a hole into Ruby's cranium. Apparently, Cinder wanted to take a break to play 20 questions. Great._

 _" **This is about your sister,** " Cinder said, cutting through the hesitancy with as much fervor as she would a limb. " **Isn't it?** "_

 _Hole in one. Though that was an easy answer, because practically every problem in her life revolved around the search for her sister._

 _Ruby looked away, expression souring further. "I don't want to talk about it." She'd heard more than enough about her sister from Roman and Emerald. She wasn't sure she could take more doubt. Not now. Not after she'd messed up so royally. Already her feelings of love and warmth were tainted by the distant echoes of Emerald's bitter pragmatism, and Roman's devout cynicism. The more tainted they became, the more doubt-ridden she became, and the less effective they were at holding the Cold at bay._

 _Cinder, while not a mind reader, had an uncanny ability to decipher how people worked. She'd already figured her student out long ago._

 _" **You acted with irrationality unbecoming of even you. For that, you must've had a good reason.** " Her gaze pierced her student's very soul. Or whatever was left of it. " **What makes you so certain?** "_

 _Ruby's teeth grit together. She knew it was coming. She knew she should've been prepared. But that didn't stop the white-hot anger from suddenly bubbling over, her negative emotions seeking any outlet possible, like blood bursting from a vessel. She faced her teacher with eyes that, without the rage, would've had nothing left. "You wanna know?" She practically hissed. "You really wanna know?" Her hands became fists, her body shaking with anger. The same raw emotion that burned bridges with Emerald and Roman was brought to bear, a fiery display that failed to be belittled by her otherwise demure and innocent manner. There was no rage quite like when the well-meant were pushed to their breaking point._

 _"I'm not." Admitting it felt like plunging a knife into her chest, the final nail in the coffin of her fairy tale-like dreams of summer winds and love. It took incredible effort simply to stay standing. "I've never been certain. I haven't even met her." She stated with a spontaneous laugh of bitterness that surprised even herself. Roman's influence went deeper than she thought. "But I..."_

'Better to break your own heart now, before it becomes worse.'

 _Silver tears of pain, the first of many, flowed down her young, agonized face. "I want to."_

'Why would your sister want anything to do with a monster?'

 _She flinched, hard, throat choking with grief. "I have to. I c-can't... go back. Not there." Silence and emptiness and the perpetual chill of autumn. "Not after what I've done. I have to believe. Because... if I don't..." She let the unspoken words hang in the air, unable to talk when her chest had been perforated by so much sorrow. With that, she finally collapsed to her knees, calves spread either side, a useless bundle of tears and pain._

 _The child didn't need to see her mentor's expression to know what she thought of such an egregious display of weakness._

 _" **Raise your head,** **child.** " She didn't, at first. Normally her disobedience alone would earn Cinder's ire. Yet her usual condemnations were slow to come. For that, Ruby was grateful. Now that she'd been laid bare, caught between the instability of her adolescence and troubled life, all she could feel was vulnerable. Raw. She could do incredible things, talk and act with surprising maturity, but in the end, she was still a little girl. One completely in over her head._

 _Ruby met her mentor's eyes. For the faintest moment, Ruby thought she saw something. Then it was gone, a fleeting ember amongst the flames. Cinder sighed and shook her head, even her disapproval displayed with graceful flair._

 _" **Know this,** **Ruby**." Cinder stated with the full weight of her power and station. " **Your arduous trials are something to covet** **. There will never be a victory quite so gratifying as over oneself.** " _

_The student slowly nodded, attention still caught between her thoughts and her teacher. Was that Cinder's way of saying she believed in her? That she would find her sister, or that she would overcome her delirium? She looked away for a brief moment, drying her eyes as strength gradually ebbed back into her body. Cinder had a habit of saying things that could interpreted anyway one wanted to. Even so, the mere prospect that Cinder was so uncompromising in her faith in Ruby filled her with a strange sort of determination. Roman's faith in her was shaken, but she could make sure Cinder's wasn't. "But... why-"_

 _" **To wonder why these trials are difficult is backwards.** " She said, reading her student's mind. " **Instead, consider how much you stand to gain from conquering them, and you will see the true purpose of being.** "_

 _Despite herself, Ruby smiled. It was faint, and lacking everything that made it unmistakably hers, but it was something. Only Cinder could give a pep talk that never actually gave direct encouragement._

 _"What did you gain from beating your 'trials'?" Ruby asked, on a whim. In this strange moment of soul-searching, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to gain insight on how Cinder worked. The look in Cinder's eye made her wish she'd never asked however, until it vanished, replaced by her normal cool veneer of power and beauty in an instant._

 _It was Cinder's turn to look away, briefly._

 _" **Clarity.** " She said, after several moments of pensive silence. " **The suffering was unbearable, but it made me who I am. Once, I would have given anything to go back.** " Her visible eye closed, the light of the shattered moon catching her pale features in white, making her look like a ghost. " **Now, I know. Only a fool would trade power for peace. Without sacrificing for power, there can be no peace.** " The moon was subsumed by clouds, and color returned to her face at once, Cinder's solitary eye burning in unshakeable determination. " **And my trials are still far from over.** "_

 _Ruby hoped she too could eventually look that cool when monologuing like a comic book character, one day._

 _The Witch's Acolyte raised her hand, her semblance called forth in a swirl of brilliant flames. The fire writhed around her hand like a living creature, before coalescing into a sphere of power. The light cast Cinder's face in jagged shadows, accentuating her visible eye, commanding and beautiful among the dancing light. Then it imploded, taking shape like molten metal, before a weapon of fire and glass was drawn as though from a sheathe of flames. A longsword, every bit as beautiful and deadly as its wielder, rang lowly among the roaring heat. The fire quelled, slithering back into Cinder's palm, and the only light of the clearing became the faint glow of the newly made blade. It glowed brighter and brighter, until suddenly it was warped, a second blade emerging from the first. A replica, only... smaller._

 _Ruby watched in awe. Cinder's mastery over her semblance was truly a sight to behold._

 _The blades continued to sing faintly, even as Cinder twirled them about expertly. She ended the display of finesse with her weapon thrown. The hilt of the short sword collided solidly with Ruby's skull, causing her to cry out - "ow!" - as Cinder smirked._

 _"_ _ **Now, come. It is time you learned to wield a weapon. We'll start with the basics...** " _

_Distantly, in the farthest corner of Ruby's mind as Cinder lectured, she wondered if she should ask her about her blackout. Her musing was cut short, however, when the air was seared a fiery wound by the vicious slash of Cinder's longsword, Ruby losing several strands of hair in the process of ducking, as the spar continued with higher stakes than ever before._

 _"Wait - this really was our longest conversation ever!" Ruby laughed, already bouncing back._

 _" **Pay attention!** "_

* * *

 _ **Now it's time to say goodbye**_

* * *

Without another word, Junior's brother opened fire.

Ruby moved, as fast as she could when being mindful of Jaune's dying body. The twin guns fired like flak cannons, a cacophony of ear-splitting airbursts that eviscerated anything within them. At this range, Ruby had to truly work for it, no amount of cover safe from the powerful detonations or incredible marksmanship of a man wielding two enormous weapons of war. No one was safe, the dead and dying ripped apart by the ensuing hail of fire and metal, bones of man and structure forcibly bared as stone and flesh was flayed. Ruby did what any would - she dived away from the explosions and hid among the tracks, shielding Jaune within a coffin of her tendrils on her back, internally apologetic for how uncomfortable it must be. The barrage continued unabated, Junior's brother blowing apart all semblance of cover in a vicious bid to catch Ruby in the crossfire. He fired at the ends simultaneously then methodically narrowed his angle of fire, obliterating the brightly colored edges and any chances of escape, closing in on Ruby at an ungainly pace. There was no station left. Nowhere to run. Ruby closed her eyes and prayed, hoping against all odds for the one thing that could save her.

"Cease your fire, you vagrant!"

Or that.

The explosions stopped. Ruby, in a move that would've cost her life the last time Vale had seen that much gunfire, slowly raised her head above the impromptu barricade. What she saw dropped her jaw through the tracks.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"My name," said the man from the elderly couple of before, that very same wife standing beside him with vigilant poise. "Is Professor Peter Port of Beacon Academy, distinguished Huntsman, head of Grim Detainment and Research, and extremely disgruntled gentleman." He finished gruffly. "This, is my wife, Volkskaya."

"Greetings," she said with a venomous glare, arms crossed behind her back. The grey-furred ears atop her head did little to lessen her dangerous presence.

"So a mutt and a midget," Junior's brother mumbled, rolling his eyes. "I've still got enough ammo to kill you and the girl, so how about you-"

"Here's where I beg to differ, Mister Compensation." Port interrupted, gesturing with a single hand at the man twice his height, the other rigidly behind his back. "I am actually very familiar with that model of weapon. It only holds 120 rounds in reserve. You have fired 239 times." Realization dawned slowly on the gunman's face, only to be quickly overtaken by a vicious snarl. "If your wildest dreams, do you think you could kill a Hunstman-"

The shell roared as it hurtled in Port's direction, the man remaining unflinching even as death came inches away. Then it exploded, enveloping him and his wife in fire, as Junior's brother laughed viciously.

"Oh, that never gets old." He said, wiping away tears of laughter with the back of his hand, his guns now much lighter when out of ammo. "Now, where-"

"I was still talking." From the fire and smoke, a figure emerged, body gleaming with red aura. Volkskaya glowed a dull grey, seemingly blending in with the urban background. Neither of them had so much as flinched. "Now, where was _I_?" He mocked openly, as Junior's brother trembled with rage. Abruptly Port's face turned, the first sign of concern showing in his features when he shouted straight at Ruby -

"Run!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

Junior's brother roared in anger as he tried to fire at the retreating girl, guns clicking uselessly in his hands. Enraged, he tossed them aside, shouting curses that someone her age should never hear. As she ran, the sounds of their encounter echoed through the destroyed station, reaching her ears even as she neared escape.

"Young people these days," Port grumbled. "Always so emotional. Pick those up. I refuse to battle an unarmed man."

"You think I don't have tricks up my sleeves, old man? Then you're about to fucking bite it."

Ruby leapt over rubble, shattered a fallen piece that blocked her way, and exited the station. Then there was only light.

* * *

 _ **The name 'Volkskaya' comes from the Russian word for Wolf, with the Slavic suffix of 'skaya', meaning 'belonging to', which initially I wanted to have as a last name so that it could be Portskaya, belonging to Peter Port. But we can't sell slavs anymore, so...**_

 _ **Her full name is Volkskaya Seryy, meaningly loosely 'belonging to wolf grey, or grey wolf'. I could've made it White wolf, but that's Hemingway's thing. Yes, this does mean that when Peter tells his tale about (((capturing a Beowulf))) to (((save his village))) he actually means he smashed and got labelled a total bro. Well, that, and he probably did something really cheesy and romantic and got his wife to accept herself, which is why she travels around without covering up her faunus traits. Then they smashed, 100000%.**_

 _ **Listen, the fact that it's also almost a map in Overwatch is just a huge coincidence. I swear. I'm not Zenimax Online Studios. Oh, contemporary humour, ho!**_

 _ **That said, to get ahead of the smarmy comments of 'is that a REFereNCE to X' -**_

 _ **Y**_ _ **es, Ruby's line to the bad guy of the week is, in fact, a reference to Jaune's line to Cardin in Forever Fall, part 2.**_

 _ **Yes, Junior's brother's line to Ruby was in fact a reference to Handsome Jack's direct message to you after Angel's (((death))) in Borderlands 2.**_

 _ **Yes, Ruby's underground uppercut was in fact a reference to Naruto.**_

 _ **Yes, Ruby's severed arm distraction was based on Joseph's move on Kars at the end of Part 2 in JJBA.**_

 _ **Yes, Ruby flipping Cinder over her body is in fact a reference to the Dirtnap move from Prototype 1.**_

 _ **Yes, Ruby's missing arm being the opposite arm of her sister's in canon was intentional.**_

 _ **Yes, Junior's whole 'selling your body parts' thing to Ruby in Chapter one was in fact a reference to the Alex Rider series. I, too, grew up in the early 2000s.**_

 _ **Stop asking, you dirty orphans.**_

 _ **Also, I hope nobody minds me filling in the blanks with Cinder's character too much. I was examining what was shown in canon and it made me realize I didn't have much to work with, (zing!) so I took some creative liberties and viola, we have the philosophical sadist.**_


	5. Ladies love it! - Part 3

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Ladies love it - Part 3_

 ** _*clap clap*_**

 ** _Hello folks. Welcome back to the "holy crap until I started writing it I didn't realise just how long it would be" arc. Or, should I say, the Arc arc? Ayyyyyy…._**

* * *

" _ **You have a mission.**_ "

" _Wait, I do? When? Where?"_

The light was blinding.

"We have a survivor!"

The sun was setting on Vale, casting the emergency response crew and gathered crowd in an orange light. Shadows stretched far, those at the entrance to Vale's main transport station obliterated by a firing squad of floodlights. The absence of real light in the station was never as apparent as when contrasted to the world outside, Ruby instinctively shielding herself from the barrage of piercing light. Moments passed as she breathed the cool oxygen of autumn, soothing her lungs ravaged by burning air. The sound of distant air transports roared in as the crowd practically rioted, warring against the metal barricades, to catch a glimpse of the seemingly sole survivor of Vale's latest massacre. Carrying a suspiciously human-sized bundle entombed in dark thorns.

One member of Security looked at another, and gave an imperceptible nod of confirmation. Their ranks split, stepping aside to allow the medics through, but still ready for anything. Ruby was suddenly very thankful that she wasn't wearing her trademark red cloak today, instead opting for a considerably lower profile hoody. Getting recognized now of all times would be an absolute disaster, and potentially fatal.

 _" **Tomorrow, as hundreds return to their homes on Vale's metro, look for the 13. I trust you to understand in time**."_

 _"Is that all I get? You can't even tell me what I do next?"_

 _" **What you do is ultimately your decision, Ruby.** "_

 _Ruby sighed, expecting as much, and still somehow left disappointed. She just hoped that waiting around until she figured it out wouldn't take too long, or be too boring._

 _" **Further** ," her teacher warned. " ** **If you call anyone, I will know**.**"_

 _Ruby went rigid, cheeks flushing red, her mind seemingly as open as ever._

Much smaller hand held lights were suddenly blasted straight into Ruby's eyes, the child flinching as many rushed calls to examine her came through with incredible volume and speed, medical jargon going in one ear and out the other like water. It was only when she felt several hands try to lift the dark coffin off her back that her presence of mind returned, instinctively diving back and away. It was already an incredible strain to prevent Jaune from being consumed. She couldn't imagine what would happen if half a dozen warm bodies pressed themselves against her tendrils. It would be like dangling bloody meat in front of a shark.

"Let me!" She cried out at their confusion, before laying the coffin on the ground. Acting quickly, the thorns rescinded into her palm, and Jaune's maimed body was shown to the crowd. His seemingly exsanguinated appearance was met with numerous cries of concern, several in the crowd fainting, and the panic evident in the medics actions only intensified. One of them pressed his hands to his mouth in horror, freezing in place. The insistent shaking of his colleague wasn't enough to dispel the sudden paralysis, so she slapped him, and shouted in his face to get it together or else he would _die._ Ruby flinched at the interaction. That was something she could understand easily enough. Aura lit hands pressed against his disfigured flesh, CPR being performed as Ruby only then realized he'd stopped breathing. Ruby spent a brief moment wondering in horror if she'd accidentally made the coffin airtight before the very same head medic grabbed her arm.

"Make room." was all she said, forcing the child aside as a metal bed was hovered in. She was absolutely enraptured by the vision of the medics, working like bees swarming around Jaune's body, one of them flipping him on his side. His fisted hands reached around his chest and forced themselves into his diaphragm, once, twice, thrice, as hope was slowly lost by the medics. Ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, twenty. Only he continued to resuscitate, a sympathetic hand laid on his shoulder, the head medic shaking her head.

Ruby felt like she was going to die.

The desperate medic's agonized face turned to his boss with tearful determination and pushed, once more.

Jaune gagged as his tongue was forced back into his mouth, and slowly gasped for air. A look of astonishment was briefly visible on the head medic's face before she was suddenly all business, shouting at her squad to get him up, get him up, keep him on his side, and lifting him onto the hover bed.

Ruby fell to her knees, breathing heavily, heavy tears flowing down her pale face. An unbelievable amount of tension had drained from her shoulders, her body rendered almost catatonic without the adrenaline propping her up. A grim look crossed the head medic's face, seemingly aging twenty years in moments, then turning to face Ruby.

"Your boyfriend's not out of the woods yet." she said sternly. "Don't get your hopes up."

Ruby sputtered in indignation. "H-he's not my-" she stopped, the humiliation paling in the face of her relief. A small smile of hope crossed her lips, the slight reddening of her cheeks all that remained of her outrage. "I'm... just glad that he's gotten this far."

"It's a miracle." The medic admitted, eyes askance. "A miracle among a day of tragedies." The small white airship, designated by the red insignia of Vale's medical professionals, was rearing for takeoff. Time was of the essence. "Sometimes, I wonder... why him? Out of everyone else?" She was clearly not talking about Jaune anymore, though the realization was slow to dawn on Ruby.

"He deserves saving," she said in his defense. The medic frowned.

"And what about the rest of them, little girl?"

Ruby opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had no idea what to say to that, so she averted her eyes. She wanted to feel happy that Jaune was alive, but once again she was reminded of her foolishness. Those people deserved better. She had to remember that. Most of all, she had to make sure the man who killed them would never hurt anyone else, ever again. He was there for her. This was her burden. As heavy as it was, as arduous as her trials were, they served a purpose. Just like Cinder told her.

"Of course..." the medic interrupted her resigned thoughts, causing Ruby to look up and blink. "You should probably ride with us. Just in case."

Ruby smiled at the thought, then frowned at the realization. "No. I have to stay here. There's still people inside-"

"The hunters?" the medic drawled. "They can handle this far better than you can, girl. Even with your semblance." Ruby's panic briefly intensified until she realized the medic was referring to her thorns. The child averted her eyes, riddled with indecision. She saw the professor - Port? Was that his name? - shrug off a direct hit from a weapon that had almost killed Jaune just from detonating near him, as well as his wife. Her innards churned, a miniature war of priorities being waged between her emotions. Jaune, her selfish want, or Junior's brother, her guilty duty.

"So, you coming or not?"

For a moment, Ruby closed her eyes. So was so tired of feeling guilty, so tired of being burdened by doubt. Just once, just once, she wanted to hold Jaune's hand as he fought for his life and ignore all the death that her existence caused.

She opened her mouth to say yes.

The monster raged violently against the door, so mightily and so shockingly Ruby almost keeled over, eyes wide in sudden alarm. _No, not now, please not now..._

The medic was immediately at her side, matronly yet forceful, expression thoroughly resigned, as though expecting something like this to happen. "Girl-"

Try as she might, but Ruby was faster. She evaded her touch with ease, acting quickly to ensure the monster was not drawn to the surface by a dangling meal. "N-no!" Ruby cried out, hand stretched out in warning. "Stay back! I-I'm fine."

"You sure as hell don't look fine."

Ruby's response was to backpedal harder, easily avoiding the medic's insistent grip. She couldn't do this here. Her eyes turned to the entrance behind her. The medic noticed her gaze, and an impulsive look of alarm crossed her face. "Don't-"

She did. The medic practically dove, desperately trying to stop the child from losing her life pointlessly. Ruby staggered back once more, falling into the shadows of the entrance, where the light could not reach. Then she was gone, subsumed by darkness and duty. Medic bit her lip until she bled, and with barely a moment's hesitation-

"Olivia!" One of her squadmates shouted above the roar of the airship engines. "We need to go! Now!"

Olivia Genere, head medic of Vale City's premiere emergency response team, nearly growled. She craned her neck back and shouted over her shoulder. "Then go already! I'm going after the girl!"

Even the will of a god couldn't stop her, let alone the shouts of consternation and warning by her teammates. Olivia gathered her determination, breathed deeply, then walked forward into darkness. Down, down, down, as the setting sun of Vale vanished beneath a bleak horizon of grey. The sun set, Olivia ran...

* * *

 _ **Were we born to fight and die?  
Sacrificed for one huge lie?  
**_

* * *

...and Ruby stumbled.

The entrance to Vale City's main transport station was far longer than Ruby remembered, probably because she wasn't moving nearly as fast as before, when Jaune's life depended on care that was moments away. Now her powers rebelled, surging beneath her flesh and writhing like snakes, a hideous sensation that never lost its revolting factor. Her pale hand traced the wall, trying to find her way as everything darkened in the spreading evening light. Before, it had been dark, electronics no doubt disrupted by her attacker, but her powers had guided her through. Now, it was almost impossible to see, a veritable ocean of black interspersed with shattered concrete and mummified bodies. She avoided it all with deliberate steps, eyes straining to see the light. Finally, the darkness parted to display the station itself. A thick column of light fell from the heavens, illuminating the impromptu battleground, littered with devastation and death. She was almost there. She reached for it, hearing the distant sounds of battle...

The monster raged once more, and Ruby collapsed in a hideous twisting bundle of convulsing limbs, the side product of seizing with near perfect flexibility. She cried out, agony and frustration flowing though her. She wanted to be with Jaune. Instead, her very soul twisted in anguish as the creature within sought blood, hunger pangs unimaginable destroying her will, little by little.

Her fingers curled and uncurled, twisting unnaturally, until Ruby gave up and clawed the ground. She was almost there. She just had to drag herself a few meters more. Once she was sure the monster wouldn't go back the way it came, she could rest. She had to unleash it the right way, or the death within the station would be nothing compared to what came next. Even if the Hunters saw her, it wouldn't matter, so long as they stayed out of her way. She was unrecognizable under the monster's influence, after all.

* * *

 _ **Or are we weapons?**_

* * *

Ruby groaned with effort, tears welling up. How many times had she cried today? How many had been for Jaune? How many had been for these people, whose crimes were that of existing around her? She shoved back the guilt with force. Not now. She had to focus, even as her mind was warped by the monster's influence, sanity ebbing away. She could feel the phantom sensations of warmth on her neck, and practically feel the murderous intent it glared into the back of her skull.

Just when she thought she couldn't hold on any longer, she crossed the threshold. She caught brief glimpses of combat, heard the clanging of metal weapons and grunts of exertion between two men fighting for their lives. Ruby almost smiled in agonized relief.

She let go. Consciousness washed away, a distant image superimposed on a pitch-black sky. Until the image itself was subsumed beneath the waves of black, and Ruby was lost.

* * *

 _ **Pointed at the enemy  
So someone else can claim a victory...**_

* * *

 _The fighting had almost ceased._

 _Their camp lay littered with loyalists and a handful of their own, soaking the orange autumn grass. Even though it began recently, Vale's forests were quick to change, and already the colors of spring were replaced by the colors of autumn, a gradient of reds and oranges and browns that spread rapidly like a plague on the once green plant-life. The perfect colors to embody the aftermath of war. However supposedly 'civil' it may be._

 _She never understood that phrase. The very nature of war was not civil. Perhaps the expectation was that those who were once brother and sister would fight fairly? She wondered why it mattered. Nothing about how they fought was fair, because if they did fight fairly, they'd lose more of their own than necessary. Was honor worth its price in blood? They had a duty to their people, and no one else's._

 _Such was the way of the White Fang._

 _Her masked face betrayed none of her musings, silent and imposing as she stood rigidly with the only family she had left. The far sounds of war waged on, loyalists returning from their missions only to find their comrades slaughtered, fighting desperately for their lives. They would lose. Adam's side had the numbers, the experience. All that was left was certainty, like the changing of the leaves._

 _She doggedly watched the way their new leader moved, noting how he subtly shifted his weight, and internally wincing at how much he must hurt to be doing so visibly. Especially when he'd barged past their remaining medics, against all forms of advice and common sense, just to ensure he could speak with the humans himself. She just wished they arrived early so they could get this over with..._

 _Time passed, the light of the lantern flickering. They hadn't the luxury of electricity when they lived almost exclusively off the grid. Thankfully, Dust was a miraculous fuel source, in addition to its hundreds of other properties. She closed her eyes, focusing entirely on her hearing, sensitive ears twitching at the slightest noise._

 _Even then, she didn't hear her, not until the flap was suddenly rustling in the autumn breeze, as a beautiful women walked right through. Immediately, she was on edge, hands straying to her weapon hilts._

 _Cinder Fall smiled. It only heightened her nerves, the slightest quivering visible in her splayed hands._

 _" **I see I have the right tent.** " Cinder said, blinking her long lashes. " **There should be a marker that denotes the seat of** **power**."_

 _"Were the corpses not enough?" Adam Taurus said, commanding as ever, even as he imperceptibly shuffled his weight. "I practically carved a path through the traitors."  
_

 _" **When you've killed as many as I have, they all begin to blur.** " Cinder bragged, hand shielding her mirthful smile in a shameless display of fake humility. " **You must only be in the low dozens.** "_

 _The slightest agitated quirk of Adam's lip was all that Cinder needed to see, smile widening as her claws settled in. "I have even less patience for braggarts than I do traitors, and I've already killed hundreds-" he accentuated purposefully "-of traitors." If Blake could've, she would already be resting her face in the palm of her hand. Instead, she settled on leaning in, whispering into his ear._

 _"She's trying to provoke you. Don't let her."_

 _Adam took a moment, then cast half a glance at his protégé and nodded, internally thankful to have her watching his back. Subtlety was never his strong suit. He preferred a much more direct approach._

 _"If you've come to bargain for our loyalty," Adam continued. "Then you will return home empty handed. Enough of my people have died for human causes. We fight for our own." Blake's heart skipped a beat, not that anybody noticed._

 _Beside Cinder, whose twisted attempts at manipulation had suddenly gained a new toy. If Blake knew, she'd shiver._

 _" **Your Uncle was a practical man.** " Adam's teeth audibly ground together. " **Surely we can come to some arrangement, as we had with him?** "_

 _"He was a traitor to our cause." He stated, voice rising, even though his normal tone already carried easily through the whole camp. "He poisoned the White Fang with greed and complacency. He would have us forget our cause so long as we spilled our blood for money and power." Adam threw his hand up, sword arm eternally vigilant, grasping its dark hilt. "If that is what 'business' means to you,_ _then I want nothing to do with it." Then it lowered slowly to his side._

 _Blake's heart raced as he spoke, his passion and charisma almost solely responsible for the loyalty he inspired. Almost._

 _" **It is a shame that you do not understand my implications, even with your concubine.** " Adam went rigid, as did Blake. Then he started shaking with rage, steadily boiling like the eruption of a volcano, ready to decimate. Blake simply stood in silence. " **I did not 'ask' your Uncle to negotiate. I told him what he would do, and he did as commanded. Because he recognized his place.** " Cinder was practically ticking the boxes with Adam, hitting nerve after nerve. " **The fact that he was happy to take orders simply made him easy to control. His... interests,** " her eyes flickered to Adam's sides. " **Made it even easier.** "_

 _His sword arm raised with deliberate slowness, polished metal ringing as the blood-red blade glimmered in the dim light._

 _"Leave." He growled, teeth barred. It was his only warning._

 _Cinder smiled._

 _" **No.** "_

 _Blake crouched low, unsheathing her weapons. Adam gave her a meaningful sidelong glance, and reluctantly Blake let them go, sliding back into their sheaths. Even in death, Adam would find some way to refuse aid._

 _" **Shall we take this outside?** "_

 _"Let's." Adam growled with the full weight of his rage, the same raw emotion that led him to dethrone his Uncle and wage bloody war on his own comrades. "You first." Cinder raised an amused brow, but complied nonetheless. Much the same, his sense of honor led him outside, blade sheathed even as his opponent's back was turned. He was a man of duty, and principle._

 _It made him that much easier to control._

* * *

 _ **-INTRUDER, IDENTIFY YOURSELF-**_

* * *

 _Though the camp had designated areas for practice, what was required to encompass Adam's prowess was much, much larger. He knew just the place._

 _Days old blood littered the clearing, most notable of which was the stone that stood at the center, almost an exsanguination's worth of red coating the top layer a sickly crimson. Trees had been felled, cut and broken by sword and rampaging beast. A ring was formed by ash, encircling the clearing, trees incinerated in some grand inferno that happened only days before._

 _"Fitting that the last of my Uncle's legacy would fall in the same place he did." Adam said, head raised to follow the setting sun. In its orange glare, the dried blood stood out even more starkly amongst the autumn woods. Yet, strangely, they complimented each other well. After all, Autumn was the season of change and embodied the colors of fire. And death was often how things truly began to change._

 _He thumbed the latch of his sword, readying to eject it with incredible velocity._

 _Cinder continued to smile, unfazed by the battleground around her, and the man threatening to kill her. She openly mocked him, guard wide open, leading him around like a dog on a leash._

 _" **How fitting that your arrogance would be curbed where it began.** "_

 _Wilt hissed. It was Adam's only response._

* * *

 ** _From shadows,_**

* * *

 _The Faunus disappeared in a flash of red, Wilt ringing as it was drawn rapidly and repeatedly. Cinder backpedaled, sidestepping and avoiding the lightning fast strikes. She ducked low, bending inhumanly, then transitioned into a handspring dodge as the red blade perforated where her heart was moment's ago. The ringing of Wilt intensified as it was drawn and sheathed faster and faster, pitch heightening as the blows began to sunder the sound barrier. Just when it reached a decibel above human hearing, it stopped. The shockwave of its sudden stop created a forceful gust of wind, the lone glimmering blade amid the battered clearing. It was an incredible feat of swordsmanship and superhuman ability, striking dozens of times a second. What was more incredible was Cinder's effortless ability to dodge, that same arrogant smile still on her face, taunting him._

 _" **Oh my,** " she remarked at the sight of him. " **Already out of breath?** "_

 _Adam was heaving heavily through his teeth. He hadn't even noticed how much the otherwise rudimentary onslaught of attacks had drained him. He was weaker than he thought, something that agonized him to no end. He supposed he'd have to take a page out of Blake's book and fight smarter, not harder._

 _" **Do you have this issue with your concubine?** " Until she said that._

 _With a roar Adam jettisoned Wilt from it's sheath, hilt first, then acting quickly fired again to knock Cinder off-balance. His gambit almost worked, the hilt passing narrowly by her. Then in an incredible burst of speed, he appeared behind her, after-images trailing his way. Wilt found its way into his hand, and he attacked wide, orange flames trailing in his wake. Cinder only raised a brow at the choice of elements. She avoided the first attack by going low, then Adam brought Wilt to bear in a bisecting slice. Milliseconds before it cut flesh, it clashed against Cinder's newly formed blade. She forced his weapon aside, throwing Adam back. She twirled her long weapon expertly. " **So slow.** " She said as she circled him, the tip of her blade prowling through the leaves like a predator in the underbrush. Where it touched was cut easily, then erupted in fire._

 _Adam took the rare moment of respite in battle to assess. He wasn't going to last much longer... he grimaced beneath his mask. This human was corrupting his thoughts with her talks of concubines, though that was perhaps the point, utilizing his age to her advantage. He hated such dishonorable tactics with a passion, but he needed to focus. He needed to finish this, quickly. He cursed his lack of mastery over his semblance once more, silently wished that Blake was here to buy him time, and breathed._

 _"'A warrior fights with courage,'" he recited as he rose methodically to his feet, "'is shielded by hope,'" Wilt slowly drawing from its sheathe, "'and dies with honor.'" Adam adopted a new stance, blade no longer readied within its scabbard. Instead it was turned upward, falling leaves bisecting themselves upon its red metal, a fighting style only successfully practiced by a handful in Vale's history. Cinder's raised brow went even higher._

 _" **So it is true.** " She said, bemused. It was hard not to recognize such a distinct pose. " **He did have a son.** "_

 _Adam Taurus, son of the Red Wave, leader of the Faunus Rebellion, stood perfectly still. Light glimmered off the weapon of war, held without falter or even the slightest tremor. By all accounts, Adam had seemingly died standing, blade readied as a warning to any who may try and strike down what he fought for. In that way, he had become far more powerful than a simple warrior. Like his father, he had become a symbol. A statue, an embodiment of an ideal. Cinder rolled her eyes, and decided to humor him._

 _She charged forward, blade trailing fiery death, then lunged past with a twirling slash, bisecting Adam though the chest. Long moments passed as nothing happened save the falling of the leaves, Cinder's weapon held aloft from her wide attack. At some point in the exchange Adam's weapon had also moved, mirroring Cinder's resulting pose. A line of red seeped down Adam's chest._

 _Then the forest exploded in red, the attack that earned the Red Wave his name, decimating everything at chest level within two dozen meters of Adam. What was cut off dispersed in mists of red, obliterated from existence. The bloodied stone that had survived previous conflict slid away into nothing. Cinder smiled, before her top half fell away and met the same fate. What remained promptly collapsed in a bloody heap._

 _It took a moment for Adam to exit his trance-like state of concentration, before he promptly threw up from exhaustion, panting and heaving deeply and rapidly. He was far too injured to be attempting something like that, and yet, it had worked. His Uncle's legacy was gone. No longer would the White Fang be a puppet of human interests. His people were free. He was free. If Adam had enough energy left, he would've cried. He fell to the side, avoiding his late lunch, and rolled to his back._

 _It hurt to breathe. He might even die from reopening his wounds. But no battle worth fighting was without cost._

 _Adam fought hard to stay conscious, winning only barely. Then he heard a noise. He rolled his head to see. He stopped breathing._

 _The lower half of Cinder's body had melted into a dark puddle, replete with lashing tendrils. From the oozing pile, a dark hand emerged. Then another, and a head. As though drawing herself from the depths of the Underworld, an unharmed Cinder grasped the earth and pulled, more and more of her dark body emerging from the ooze. Finally, Cinder clawed her way to the surface world, kneeling as ooze dripped from her dark form. Then she paled, color returning to her skin and clothes, red eyes replaced by human ones. She idly wiped off the last bit of ooze from shoulder, splattering into the dirt, melting away moments later._

 _" **So weak.**_ _" She remarked coolly. She walked closer, gait steady and commanding. She lorded over his exhausted, human body, pushed to its limits. The Witch's Acolyte leaned in, taunting her enemy even as he lay defeated, an act of total domination and humiliation._

 _" **And far, far too foolish.** "_

 _Adam's revulsion was almost instinctive, but he hadn't the strength to spare. He could do no more than roll his head._

 _" **I will say it, so that even you may understand it.** " Her pale hands grasped his face. Where they touched, his skin instantly began to bleed, the red liquid siphoning into her palm. She forced him to look at her._

 _" **If you do not obey me, you will die.** **Your concubine will die. Your subordinates will die. Stoke my ire enough, and I may even feast upon your** **species**." She seemed to truly mean it, which horrified Adam internally to no end. This woman was not human. She was something far, far worse. " **To avoid this fate, you will answer to me. If I choose to, I may command your forces. I will provide you with what you need, only when you need it, and as much as you need. What you do with your organization when you are not needed is up to you. However, if you so much as think, as whisper of betraying me...** "_

 _Her eyes darkened, darkness bleeding into the white, red overtaking orange._

 _" **...I will eat you.** "_

 _For the first time in a long, long time, Adam felt fear. True fear. The fear of a predator, willing and able to tear him limb from limb. A younger Adam who had nothing to lose would die with honor. But Adam was not just a warrior anymore._

 _He had more than himself to think about. Distantly, he wondered if this was how his Father must've felt._

 _"...I understand my place." He rasped, and the wound on his pride that statement made would take years to heal. "I will serve you. But touch my con... Blake, and I will kill you. Do you understand?"_

 _" **I would like to see you** **try**."_

 _Malicious laughter filled the clearing, easily reaching the ears of the battle's audience. Blake had her hands to her mouth. Ilia's camouflage had already been disrupted, unable to properly concentrate when witnessing what lay before her. Her hand sought out Blake subconsciously, but her conscious mind decided against it. Now was not the time. She laid it on her upper arm, tenderly grasping a very familiar spot. She would be thinking about this incident for a long time after._

* * *

 ** _From shadows,  
We'll reclaim our destiny.  
_**

* * *

Ilia hated being right.

It'd been months, and the new arrangements - which sure as hell seemed a lot like the old ones - still chafed. Ilia, like most, was not comfortable with humans, let alone whatever the hell Cinder was, having control over the White Fang. It was one of many reasons she'd gone along with Adam's coup of the Valen Brotherhood of the White Fang. If even the White Fang wasn't advocating for Faunus interests, then... well. She couldn't forget the incident that got her and Blake to join, or the life she'd lived before. She would gladly toss herself into the flames of war if that was what it took to stop anyone else from going through what they did.

She closed her eyes, and sighed. The fire at her feet did little to dim the cold, but thoughts of Cinder were certainly a good enough distraction. Especially when such a poignant reminder laid in front of her.

Ruby, no last known name, did not sleep well, Ilia noted. Though the dirty concrete was hardly a good way of judging someone's sleeping patterns. Ilia only wished that one day, she could squat somewhere that human's lived, not Faunus. She idly stoked the fire, only to end up using the stick to chase away a rat. How her people had deviated from animals so long ago was a mystery to her...

Ruby promptly woke up screaming. It was such a shock to Ilia that she accidentally threw the impromptu stoker straight up, bouncing off the ceiling before being caught by Ruby's incredible reflexes. Only for her to realize she'd grabbed the hot and pointy end, and thus screamed again, her hand both bleeding and on fire. Ilia was caught in such a state of disbelief and panic that she fumbled for several long seconds, as Ruby beat her hand against the impromptu bedspread, only for it to catch fire as well.

"Oh for-"

Thinking quickly, Ilia threw the thin cardboard onto the fire. By the time Ilia could create any sort of plan, however, Ruby had already solved her own problem. She'd shoved her whole flaming hand into her mouth. There the two of them sat, in near perfect silence, bedspread turned firewood casting dancing light in the dark room. Ruby had trouble speaking due to the literal hand in her mouth. Ilia had trouble speaking because she couldn't put to words anything that would adequately follow what had just happened.

That is, until Ruby tried speaking through the fist in her jaw. Ilia blinked slowly in confusion.

"What?"

The fist withdrew, drenched in drool. "I said, 'you set me on fire'!" Ilia's mouth parted slightly, then closed, teeth grinding together. Typical human, immediately blaming the Faunus for-

Ruby was shaking her hand, wrist grasped by the other, less singed one. "Stupid reflexes! That wasn't gonna land anywhere near me!" She proceeded to roll around, wrestling with her own limb, seemingly gone mad.

Now it was Ilia's turn to insert her own fist into her mouth. Metaphorically speaking.

"Are you..." she tried to say, speaking slowly. "Talking to your own hand...?"

Ruby stopped. Her head craned dramatically towards Ilia, only realizing she was there moments ago. Her mouth made an 'o' shape. Color steadily seeped into her cheeks, until she was as red as her namesake.

"H-how long... have you been there...?"

Ilia saw no reason to lie. Yet. "Several hours. I was waiting on you to return to consciousness after I snagged you from Vale's Transport hub." She rolled her shoulder. "You're heavier than you look."

Ruby drew herself together, hugging her knees by the fire. She seemed to do it unconsciously, because she hadn't broken eye contact with Ilia just yet. "Did you... see anything?" There was a strangely serious expression on her face.

Ilia blinked. This girl just got weirder and weirder... "No?" She tried. Ruby smiled, radiantly, as though this was the first small mercy she'd ever gotten.

"Good. You seem nice for a kidnapper."

Ilia reached a level of confusion few living beings ever did. Her emotions had throttled, thoughts conflicting as they formed a tangled mess. She rubbed her temples, a habit formed rather incestuously from her relationship with Blake. Ruby's smile faded slightly.

"I didn't kidnap you," Ilia corrected, groaning. "I saved you. I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, remember?"

Now it was Ruby's turn to feel confused. "My wah?"

Ilia's eyes twitched. "Did they not tell you? How is it possible to be so disorganized..." She muttered. She splayed both her hands, eyes closed as she steadied herself, and started from the top. "Okay. Look." She had Ruby's attention, though it wasn't exactly a major accomplishment when her surroundings were dark and dirty. "Yesterday, I got a missive to head to Vale City and find someone called Ruby. That's you." She pointed and Ruby nodded deliberately, like a preschooler. "We had intel to suggest your life is in danger. Given what happened to the transport hub earlier today, I'd say that intel was pretty damn accurate." She drawled. "The attack was likely spontaneous. Whoever is after you probably saw a good opportunity and took it. They might have even been trailing you beforehand, waiting for your guard to be down."

Ruby's smile had faded completely by that point, replaced with a dour look. Ilia merely raised a brow.

"Did they not tell you this?" What kind of person would... the conclusion dawned on Ilia before she'd finished her thought.

"My teacher doesn't tell me a lot." Ruby said, hugging herself even more tightly. The Faunus filled in the blanks, horrified at the thought of that woman _teaching_ of all things. Methods of torture, perhaps? "She just said to head to the train station, and 'look for the 13.'" Ilia's arm twitched reflexively, deliberately repressing the instinctive urge to cover her shoulder. Could it be? How had that woman known...? She thought back. She was wearing a sleeveless vest, so maybe that was how? But she was camouflaged, up until the very end... had she known she was there the whole time? None of the possibilities were very appealing to Ilia.

She ignored it for now. Compartmentalizing was a murderer's best friend. "That's it?"

Ruby threw her hands up. "That's what I said! But she was all like - " Rather creepily, Ruby mirrored Cinder's domineering expression near perfectly. "'I trust you to understand. What you do is up to you. You must bring balance to the seasons.'" She deflated, seemingly exhausted. "Okay, she didn't say that last part, but still. I just wish she stopped acting like a comic book villain."

 _It would probably help if she stopped literally being one_ , Ilia thought, holding back a shiver.

Ruby looked away, sorrow clouding her silver eyes. "I guess I can't just ask you to let me handle this, huh?" She said quietly, staring at her knees.

Ilia snorted. "Not a chance," that she was either disobeying Adam or that witch Cinder.

Ruby's eyes moistened, beginning to cry, then she visibly steeled herself and wiped them away. She looked up with the same expression of determination Ilia once made, long ago, when she'd first met Adam. Ilia felt the slightest pang of nostalgia before rolling her eyes. Just her luck to get the overly emotional kiddie...

"Say," Ruby began. "Can I ask for a favor?"

"Depends on the favor."

"I need to find someone. His name is Jaune."

Ilia shrugged. "And?"

Ruby finally met her eyes. Internally, Ilia was taken aback by what she saw, the raw intensity of emotion reminding her of a very certain someone.

"And," Ruby said. "He's in danger. We need to find him."

Ilia closed her eyes and sighed. No use fighting someone that determined to do something. Oum knows she'd seen better Faunus that her try and fail. So she went along, as she always did, as much of an unwanted tagalong as she'd ever been.

"Alright. Let's go."

* * *

 _ **The next day, and I'm back at it again, using my notes for chapter 6 to make the ending to chapter 5 a bit better. Sorry about the initial version's abrupt ending.**_

 _ **The way Cinder regens being the same way Grim are born is intentional, and is intended to marginally resemble the regeneration in Prototype. Something I don't think I've quite explained is that this isn't just some copy paste of Alex Mercer's abilities. I am trying to have it make sense within RWBY's canon. Sometimes you gotta bend the rules though, just a bit...**_

 _ **Obvious changes from canon to fanon are obvious, but honestly, my pet theory about Adam's lineage was something I theorized for a while, since it would explain his prowess quite a bit better than 'some dude who was once a slave to the Schnee'. Him getting 'Rey'-ed and just being a dude takes away quite a bit of the oomph that his story has, methinks, mainly since I always thought Adam embodied the revolutionary ideal. And what better way to embody an ideal than to have lineage in it, to wage war across generations? Aren't the hardest battles usually also the longest? Aren't they the most righteous? Food for thought. (Side note after writing this wall of text - him being raised from birth to be a 'hero' would also explain his hero complex more. I mean we all can let praise go to our head, but imagine literally being raised from birth as having this huge burden of being a hero because of your lineage... oh wait, it's almost like that's something in my story!)**_

 _ **Whether or not more deviations from canon will happen will be shown in time. That's a BleedItAndWeep guarantee!**_

 _ **Olivia Genere is a play on words of Olive Branch, with genere being latin for branch, while Olivia means 'olive tree'. This shit is so multilayered, Kakashi wouldn't be able to figure it out.**_

 _ **Also, small correction to chapter 3 - adjusted the phrase 'train station' to 'train section of the transportation station'. Basically, my interpretation (because Fanon) of Remnant is that since airships and whatever are presumably like buses, it means that public transportation is segmented between ground level and not ground level. This naturally would mean that the designs of transportation stations are... more complicated than the ones IRL, which are mostly metros and monorails etc. Some might ask 'well why wouldn't they just make public airstrips where the airships land if they're basically helicopters?' My response is SHUT UP, WHAT'RE YOU WORKING FOR, SALEM!?**_

 _ **Just a bit of world building. Anyway.**_

 _ **Since Adam's sword is a reference to Ga-Rei: -Zero-, I decided to make his Uncle's weapon another reference to the show. You'll see it. Eventually, when things circle back and we get proper Blake-development. Is that a word? Blake is after all a 'character'. I'll make it a word.**_

 _ **Also, to be sure I got Adam in his prime, (zing!) I watched the Black trailer again recently. Man the old voice acting is painful, but the fight scenes are so good... rest in peace Monty. You won our hearts with your vision from day one.**_

 _ **Until then,**_

 _ **Ja ne.**_

 _ **PS: Having just finished crying after watching Ga-Rei: -Zero-, I decided to read the manga, and it has made me realize that my writing style of humor and depression is so painfully unoriginal that it hurts. The things I do for 'research'...**_


	6. Ladies love it! - Part 4

_**Creeping Thorns:**_

 _Ladies love it! - Part 4_

 ** _Hello folks. Just wanted to issue a slight clarification -_**

 ** _Last chapter, Adam's 'technique', the Red Wave, is not actually his semblance. His semblance is the ability to absorb the energy of attacks and release them back at his enemies. To me, I've always thought of the semblance as an enhancement rather than its own move. Hence why Adam can do the 'Moonslice' (the canonical name for the attack in the Black Trailer that oneshot the Spidertank from BL2) without his semblance - it just makes it stronger. Further, other times when Adam used his semblance, there was no sign of wilting red petals, such as during his character short. To me, this indicates that what causes the petals to fall is a fundamentally different thing than using his semblance, but not exclusive._**

 ** _I got a PM about it, so just in case some of you are confused in silence, I got chu._**

 ** _Enjoy._**

 ** _Also - the first lyrics referenced in the chapter are for Dream Come True. Yes, we're still doing this. So you know._**

 ** _Also also - I've been considering changing the story rating to T, but I don't know if that really would work long term, especially with some of the things I have planned. Anybody know some guidelines, like actual examples, for what constitutes a rating? Because just reading the site guidelines haven't cut it for me. Thanks in advance._**

* * *

 _The ash fell like snow._

 _The ever present deadwood crunched under heel, mineral-less, the earth brittle and barren. Dried bark ebbed from the trees with the wind, weathered down by the harsh seasons like the ocean against the shore. Morbid grey light broke through the ashen sky, but was rendered useless beneath the coming fiery smog._

 _The darkness grew closer. Grey bled into grey as distinctions between the sky and the earth ceased, the world subsumed beneath the dark aftermath. The light faded, even the grey giving way to nothingness._

 _From the darkness, a monster appeared. The red eyes of Grimm stared right through her, teeth gnashing, vicious and powerful. It drew itself closer, clambering gracelessly on three limbs. Ruby yelled for it to stay back but she made no noise. Its dark claws split the lifeless earth, closer, closer. She could see the individual drops of saliva trailing down its savage teeth._

 _It stopped, heaving bloodthirsty breaths inches away from her pale face. Something Ruby almost thought was understanding passed through its eyes, before it opened it's jaws impossibly wide and roared, lunging forward._

 _Ruby screamed._

* * *

Just when Ruby thought things couldn't get worse, the metal box she was caged in suddenly lurched, causing her to emerge from sleep with a surprised yelp.

The last dredges of her memory twisted her recognition, making her think for a long, awful moment she was still deep underground. She sighed lightly as she recalled, then began her descent into horror at the realization that the box was moving. She pressed herself flush against the corner, panicking as countless terrors played out in her conscious mind. While ordinarily, the self-made horrors afflicting the mind were worse than the terror of reality, this was unfortunately not the case.

The box stopped. Then unceremoniously, the world fell out from under her, and Ruby fell with a scream...

* * *

There was just one problem with Ilia's sudden command to leave.

"I uh," Ruby admitted sheepishly. "Don't know where he is."

The Faunus smirked.

"Let me guess. He was the blonde human you hauled out of the station?"

Ruby nodded.

"Then I know exactly where he'll be."

* * *

Ilia's guess was dead on, though it wasn't actually much of a guess.

"While I'm usually a pretty good tracker, this baby," a small metal disc, wrapped in slender tanned fingers, perfect for being slipped into someone's pocket, "makes my job child's play." She grinned as she juggled it one-handedly. "And it pays to keep tabs on everyone that might be relevant." She caught it deftly, then handed it over. "Here. Just in case we get separated." Ruby wasn't sure where to put it until realizing she had stealthy pockets in her skirt for exactly this kind of reason.

"Now, speaking of tracking..." Ilia continued, "give me your scroll." Ruby knew where this was going. She unconsciously pressed her hand flat against Junior's deactivated scroll, a small metal tube waiting to be opened. It was her only way of contacting the blackmailers, and currently her only line to Roman, not to mention the incredible amount of information on it. Though she wondered what would've happened if she had called Roman using Junior's scroll... that would've been awkward. She knew she should've left it behind, and brought her own scroll instead. But she couldn't find it, probably because it was destroyed when Monster-Ruby destroyed club 3B, and now this happened.

"Come on. We can't be wasting time like this." Ilia was right, yet Ruby was still hesitant. Something gnawed at her, desperately trying to be acknowledged. There was a piece of key info that Ruby felt like she was missing, but she couldn't know for sure what she didn't know. Instead, her mind was filled with blonde hair - so much like hers, just less voluminous - and those electric blue eyes. She selfishly involved him, and he'd selflessly sacrificed himself because of it. She owed him this much at least. Putting him in more danger for the sake of what might be there was selfish, just like...

Slowly, she drew the scroll from her pocket, and handed it over. She tried not to flinch when Ilia stepped on it, and failed miserably.

"Implants?" The White Fang operative suddenly asked, and Ruby spun on her heel, face utterly flushed. Her arms defensively clutched her lithe chest.

"W-what? No! I-it's none of your business!" She cried out. Ilia rolled her eyes.

"I meant if you have any synthetics." Ruby took a moment, then let go of herself with a relieved sigh.

"Oh, okay. For a second I thought you were some kind of pervert."

"You're an idiot." As part of the ever-growing enigma that was Ruby, last name unknown, she smiled wide. Ilia slowly blinked and rubbed her temples. It was going to be an unfortunate habit she'd develop around Ruby because of her antics.

"Let's just get a move on already."

* * *

It said quite a bit about the sheer level of destruction that had transpired at Vale City's main transportation hub, that the city saw fit to cordon off an entire hospital. They were clearly worried about further attacks.

"Well," Ilia said, visibly taken aback by the amount of firepower surrounding the hospital. What was more impressive was how they'd managed to mobilize so much so quickly. Of course, if it was a building full of Faunus in danger...

"He looks protected to me." Ilia shrugged.

Ruby frowned, eyes examining the vacant streets and empty skies, the rapid blasts of the twin flak cannons roaring distantly in her ears amidst the silence. Once again, there was something she was clearly missing. "I need to see him," was all Ruby said, then tried to leap across.

Ilia stopped her, gripping Ruby's hoody tightly, frowning deeply. "You don't seem to get what I mean, so I'll spell it out for you." She pointed to the urban skyline, where faint shimmers rippled in the dark. "See those?" Ruby stared, then finally saw it. Her eyesight was better than most, and even she hadn't spotted them. "Vigilants. Vale's whipping out their expensive toys from Atlas, which means high value personnel inside, _which means_ who knows what's inside protecting them." She turned Ruby around, facing her, wanting to make absolutely sure she didn't forget this and go off on her own later. "I don't know nor care what you can do, but we aren't winning a fight against Vale's military. There's guilt, then there's dying pointlessly. And if you're dead, who'd help him?" The cold logic seared Ruby to the bone.

Her fists balled at her side, the bitter pill of being in the wrong, again, in so many days proving especially hard to swallow. "Then..." She began. She tried to continue, the words transforming on her lips into something else entirely. She closed her eyes and sighed. Getting emotional wasn't going to help Jaune. "Then," she tried again, calming down. "What's your idea?"

Now it was Ilia's turn to smile. Ruby felt her perspiration begin reflexively, her body already preparing itself for whatever wicked scheme she had concocted. Probably because Ilia suddenly looked disturbingly similar to Roman.

"I think I have just the thing..."

* * *

 _ **Let me put a smile on your face**_

* * *

With the dawning of a new day on Vale, came more complications for Vale's defenders.

Somehow word had gotten out online, despite all the active attempts at suppression by the Kingdom, that someone incredibly famous and important was inside Lord Clemeria Hospital, a building so old it harbored a name given before the Great War, back when the Kingdom was made up of Lords and Kings and Knights. This, factoring in with the latest massacre in Vale City, meant a crowd of hundreds had gathered at the doors of hospital. All of them clamoring to even glimpse the legendary warrior inside, wounded while fighting Vale's newest threat.

They weren't equipped to deal with the flashmob, so they had to improvise, drawing from the internal Security to form a perimeter, the Vigilant filling in from above. Reinforcements were on the way, but during the morning commute, there was so much air and ground traffic it became almost impossible for even military personnel to force themselves through. Not safely anyway, and especially not quickly.

The Commander of Vale's 45th Squadron, the most famous of the 7th Regiment, the Vigilant, watched the chaos below impassively. Lounging far more casually, as befitting his station as one of the Lower Guard, was the Commander of the local Security forces, High Security Chief Basalt Blackwell. The two men in service of the Kingdom and Her people waited in silence, expecting the thunderous airborne approach of fellow servicemen any moment.

"What a waste of resources..." the Vigilant's Commander murmured, gravelly voice accented by electronic modulation. Even now, he refused to end his vigilance, masked face assessing and cross-referencing the individuals within the crowd.

"In times of peace, we can afford to be frivolous." Basalt replied, nursing his drink. The circular mark on the table only grew as he refused to take a drink, not until the cavalry arrived. When he couldn't be reprimanded for drinking while on alert status.

"Peace is a state, not an outcome." Basalt rolled his eyes, despite the truth buried within the paranoia. Maybe if he refilled the drink after and got rid of the bottle...

"If you want to, you can take your men and leave. My men can handle this." Finally, the vigilant Commander turned, facing his colleague with an eternally rigid posture, arms crossed behind his back. The eyes of the metal faceplate seemed to bore through him like blue daggers. Basalt involuntarily looked away, the intimidation value of the impassive dark metal already the stuff of legends within other parts of Vale's military. There was a reason different Regiment's had bets on whether the Vigilant were human or not.

"Complacency and disobedience are how peace end. They are not how it is formed." Basalt felt a small shiver run down his back, even as he stared at the dark liquid of his scotch. The Upper Guard really were something else. He couldn't even imagine how unbearably serious the Royal Guard must be, if they existed anyway. "Further," he continued. "I would offer the same advice to you. The Vigilant are more than capable of handling some civilians and a generic terrorist."

Basalt snorted. This was a rare opportunity. "Wait, you don't know?" The glare on Basalt intensified to the point he almost thought he'd catch fire.

"Know what?" The venom almost oozed from his mask. Somebody didn't like being kept on a need to know basis. The smugness rolled off the lower Guardsman in waves. Small victories were still victories, after all.

"Well-" He began.

"ATTENTION PEOPLE OF VALE!" A very familiar voice cried out from the street below. The Commander and the High Security Chief forgot their rivalry for a moment, ultimately still professionals in service of the Kingdom, and positioned themselves in front of the glass pane. Like an Owl, the Commander's head quirked to the side at the sight below them.

"Curious."

Basalt's reaction was much more typical.

"What the- how the hell is he conscious? And who the fuck let him out!?"

* * *

 _ **Let me put a smile on your face**_

* * *

Professor Peter Port cursed rather ungentlemanly under his breath.

Thankfully, his... reserved height permitted him to stay mostly innocuous, peering out over the window at the crowd, observing with narrowed eyes.

"What on Remnant could they be here for?" More importantly, how could he make them leave? If the attacker's goal was to cause mass harm, then a crowd of several hundred obstructing an entire street would be a good start. Port's presence as a worthy foe likely only furthered the probability of his arrival. Then there was the young boy to consider... targeted by a madman for seemingly no reason. Him and his girlfriend, who was currently missing. Who knows what that vagrant had done with her? If perhaps she was his target?

Regardless of which was true, all of the possibilities coalesced around one eventuality - many, many civilian casualties.

Port's questions numbered highly. He met his wife's flat expression, as though she had all the answers. She didn't.

The aged Wolf Faunus sighed, looking away. "I've heard from the staff that supposedly the presence of a 'famous and powerful Hunter' has drawn a crowd." Which of course it would, because powerful Huntsmen always drew admirers. Though to see so many... you'd think they thought Ozpin himself was traipsing around town. "We need to make them leave. Oum knows when he'll come crawling back."

Port stroked his gentlemanly mustache, now in need of preening after a night away from his razor. "I believe, my fair lady," He said with the voice of a wizened Huntsman. "I may have a solution." He reached for his jacket, wincing in a combination of age and injury. It fluttered dramatically as he put it on, striding forward, Volk rolling her eyes at his theatrics. As had been the case for the last 40 odd years, she followed his spontaneous lead, determined to cultivate his methods into something less counter-productive. Past the mystified staff and patients, many different colored eyes watching their departure. One green-eyed nurse raised a brow. Another just shook her head, then went back to her duties. He was somebody else's problem now.

* * *

 _ **How I wish that you knew,  
That I'm crazy for you**_

* * *

The door to Clemeria Hospital burst open with a forceful kick. After a moment of confused pause, the outline of two figures in the doorway was noticed by the crowd, the distinction between the light outside and the considerably more insulated interior readily apparent. They roared their approval, many voices crying out for the legendary hero -

"ATTENTION, PEOPLE OF VALE!"

Into the light of day, two walked forward with the gait of Huntsmen. The breaths of many were held as the figures came into focus. The older man stood confidently atop the steps, halfway down, while his wife stood several more down to be on par for height. One hand behind his back, the other held righteously to his chest, Professor Port called out -

"I am Professor Port of Beacon Academy, the legendary Huntsman you seek. I have but one missive!" His free hand thrust forward, like a commander leading his troops. "Go home!" If Volk wasn't publicly visible, she'd already have buried her face in her palm. "It is not safe here! A dangerous enemy of mine, my immediate foe, may return any minute! So, I implore you all - leave!"

There was a moment, a pregnant pause. Then the crowd erupted into chaos, anger and mob mentality overtaking many people's sensibilities, fighting harder than ever to scramble past the Guardsmen who desperately pushed them back.

"I took a day off work for this midget!?"

"I thought Ozpin was supposed to be here!"

"He's so... short..."

Port put his hands up defensively, backpedaling and trying his damnedest to assuage the crowd. "Wait! Please, there's no need for-" A shoe bounced harmlessly off Port's face, the man who threw it already rearing his arm back for a second go at it. "I said there's no need for-!" There was the second shoe. "Please! You are all in incredible da-!" And a third, then a fourth. Where was he getting so many? Whose shoes was he stealing?

Port, now no longer possessing any dignity to lose by fleeing, was promptly dragged off by his wife before he escalated the situation further. He tried feebly once more to calm the crowd, but his strong gentlemanly tenor could not longer be heard above the unruly crowd. He slouched in her grip, allowing himself to be manhandled. "They respect me even less than the students do... is this what it means to 'not be with it'?"

The roar of the crowd was utterly dwarfed by the sudden thunder of the explosion above. Fire and metal erupted from the side of Clemeria hospital like a bursting vessel, the detonation shattering every single window on the building.

"Get back!"

* * *

 _ **Let me put a smile on your face**_

* * *

The moment the guards left to contain the crowd, Ruby and Ilia were already sneaking inside. Since stealth had more to do with avoiding trouble than causing it, Ruby had some expertise in it, not as adverse to learning the skill as most of Cinder's other teachings. Especially when Roman gave her a couple of pointers. Ilia was literally a chameleon Faunus, with years of Infiltration missions under her belt, and had little trouble avoiding detection as well.

The moment they found a holographic display, projecting the layout of the current floor, Ilia asked Ruby to cover for her and connected her scroll by cord straight into it. She started typing very, very fast on her clearly modified device, Ruby trying to juggle her childish curiosity with the need to not get caught. She settled for the occasional glance at the rapid wall of holographic numbers and colors, once or twice tapping Ilia's shoulder to find cover in a nearby room. Most of the staff were on the bottom floor, caring for the majority of ordinary patients. Which was exactly why they were accessing the system from the top floor. Finally the wall-display gave way to a login screen, one which Ilia easily cracked.

They were in.

The display shifted, the 6th floor making way for the 5th. Two rooms were colored green, the ledger at the side denoting three names. Ilia tapped the one listed under 'Critical condition'. Ruby's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

Jaune Arc's unconscious face filled the screen.

"Fifth floor. Room 8."

Ruby tried to swallow back her anxiety. She failed miserably.

* * *

They found him shortly after.

Ruby's hand unconsciously sought out Ilia, gripping her dark clothing tightly. She pulled, uncompromising, even as Ilia visibly fumed.

The door closed behind them with a silent hiss, ensuring the sterility of the environment. Decontaminating mist hung in the air, pumped in by overworked vents, as steady and ever-present as oxygen. Amongst it all, everything below his neck subsumed by bandages, illuminated by the morning light and silent as the grave, was Jaune. There was no mistaking that distinctive puff of spiky blonde hair, nor the sword and shield at his bedside.

Somehow, they'd found his arm. Vaguely Ruby recalled the sensation of skin pressed against her side. Had she been holding Jaune's arm the whole time and not realized it? She was lucky the Guardsmen of Security had recognized her distress, or they might've opened fire. She couldn't imagine many innocent people went around holding a severed limb.

Except she wasn't innocent. She was complicit in his pain. Her very existence begot suffering. It was why she was here, and it was why she approached him, slowly. Ilia's outstretched arm, insisting her to go no further, did little to dissuade her. Ilia may have been strong but Ruby was far stronger, causing Ilia to let go with a small lurch. She hissed and shook her hand, watching the child approach the bed like a girl possessed. The Faunus checked the door and bit her lip, hoping that whatever the hell Ruby was doing, she'd get it over with quickly.

Ruby's touch was gentle, as though the slightest provocation would shatter Jaune completely. Her pale fingers traced the bandages on his arm, ending at the protruding plastic tube. Jaune had been dehydrated so thoroughly that the treatment needed to be slow, or else it would cause further complications. Seldom was it that a person was so vulnerable, their life force returned in such tiny, insignificant drops. Less rare were the drops on Ruby's cheeks, the guilt only intensifying as she saw his state. In a sense, the bandages only made whatever horrible, flesh-torn state he was in worse, because now Ruby had to imagine it. And whatever she imagined was inextricably linked in fire and mayhem and screaming melted faces bound to heated metal. That woman's agony would stay with Ruby for the rest of her life, at least until the next traumatic thing she experienced took its place as most recent.

Her heart was made up. She knew what she had to do. Slowly, delicately, she unraveled the bandages on Jaune's chest.

Ilia hissed, quiet yet sufficiently venomous. "What're you doing...!?"

Ruby ignored her. For this, she needed absolute concentration.

What remained of the flesh on Jaune's chest was every bit as horrible as Ruby had imagined. It only made her face draw even more tightly in concentration, the need to focus rising higher. Ilia's eyes were inadvertently drawn to the macabre display, despite it not being even close to the worst thing she'd ever seen. She forced herself to look away, trying hard to be the lookout, while still sneaking the occasional glance.

Ruby breathed, letting her control over her powers wane slightly. The leash now lengthened, dark thorns sprouted from Ruby's hands. Ilia wasn't looking at first, but the moment she saw it...

"You... you're just like her..." All of her attention was now focused on what came next, her discipline slacking in the face of such unusual circumstances.

Ilia thought she was witnessing the merciful death of Jaune. Instead, a miracle occurred.

Ruby interfaced with her powers, understanding things in ways that no other being could. She read Jaune's chest, his cells, the first lines of a page that was drawn from an impossibly large library of volumes. She came to terms with the workings of his physiology. Parts of it were missing, like pages torn from the spine of a book, but for that, she could substitute her own. Then, she went to work.

Cinder's power to destroy was incredible, and it was something she had little trouble teaching Ruby. The problem was how well Ruby would listen. Ruby's own innovations, however, were an entirely self-taught development, born from endless hours of experimentation and examination. Reverse-engineering a process that was meant to break down something at the cellular level was an incredibly difficult endeavor. Yet compared to others with her skillset, Ruby was uniquely motivated. Within her very soul was the need to help, an omnipresent drive that had once led her down the path of a Huntress. Even the most twisted of the Witch's machinations couldn't change what made her 'Ruby'.

She rallied Jaune's cells, already hard at work, and aided them. Where her thorns touched flesh, an incalculable amount of cells flooded out. They looked to each other, awaiting orders. Jaune's cells met them, and they received them. Ruby's cells passed it along, modifying the message depending on the location of repair. An impossibly complex lattice of work was simultaneously organized and carried out, starting from the deepest of the wounds and working up.

Before Ilia's very eyes, Jaune's flesh knit together, muscle fibers repairing, skin restitching. Like a poured liquid, the new flesh conformed to the shape of Jaune's body perfectly. Granted, there seemed to be some discoloration in the wounds, but it wouldn't be out of the question to write it off as scarring. By the time Ruby pulled back, exhausted beyond words, Ilia was rendered speechless. In minutes, Ruby had transformed torn flesh into immaculate skin. The possibilities of that kind of power... what couldn't she do? Moreover, why did she look like she was about to faint?

Ilia's question was answered immediately. Drained of all her strength, Ruby promptly collapsed face-first onto Jaune's healed chest. She snored softly, straight into his pectorals.

Ilia thought her day couldn't get much worse.

"You! I thought I'd find you here!"

Then it did.

* * *

 _ **Ma, it's hard being the only adult in the room, huh? Well, maturity-wise anyway. Well, actually, that's not quite true... aren't eccentric people such a handful? That's better.**_

 _ **The name Clemeria is based on Clementia, which is a greek god of Mercy, and stuff. Jaune's room is based on the biblical quote Matthew 5:8 - "**_ **Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." _Arguably darkly humorous considering the circumstance (you know, meeting your creator in the hospital is typically a oneway trip...) but also fitting, because Jaune has always struck me as being a potential Mini-Ruby. Personally would love a spin-off AU with Jaune as the MC but that would never happen... not unless... I wrote it... hm... maybe when I'm done with this story. In like, 3 years._**

 ** _The Vigilant being the 45th Squadron of the 7th Regiment of Vale's Upper Guard (geez that's a mouthful) is a reference to Isaiah 45:7, "_ The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these." _Thought it was a fitting quote when talking about mysterious stealthy defenders who 'work in the darkness to serve the light', blah blah. Remember folks, quote obscure parts of the Bible when trying to think of random numbers to make your work seem more legitimate._**

 _ **Yes, Ruby's whole healing thing is based on my own incredibly vague understanding of Stem cell-based medical techniques merged with skin grafting. This was one thing I couldn't be bothered to research properly before writing. But please, feel free to tell me the particulars so that I might personally edit the chapter just for you. Backseat writing is fantastic, isn't it?**_

 _ **I'm considering quoting non-RWBY songs for certain stuff, since they'd be thematically appropriate. I still recommend listening to the OST most of the time while reading, but I'd make special mention for when to start listening to non-RWBY songs. Thoughts, folks?**_

 _ **Review if you want.**_


	7. Ladies love it! - Part 5

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Ladies love it! - Part 5_

 _ **Hello folks. Once again, near the end of the chapter, quoting lyrics from 'Dream Come True'.**_

 _ **Edited this chapter the day after I posted just to spruce it up a bit. Wasn't super happy with what I'd written so I fleshed it out a little more. Only about 100 words, nothing major.**_

 _ **Edited it again because I still wasn't happy with Jaune and Ruby's dialogue at the end.**_

 _ **Just in case anyone was curious - the original version of chapter 6 had an Author's Note at the bottom about guy vs girl nipples, that was based on something which was cut from the final version. It's gone now. I'll leave it up to y'all to figure out why I mentioned it. Just in case anybody had read it and was wondering what the hell it was about.**_

 _ **Also, as some of you may have noticed, I bumped the story down to a 'T' rating. This decision was mostly based on the fact that all of my very old versions of Creeping Thorns were extremely gory, and made me think that all iterations thereon would be the same. This has not turned out to be the case, as of 6/13/19. So, in the future, if this becomes M rated, that's because I went somewhere I didn't think I would. I'll keep y'all posted about how things are going on that front.**_

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

 _ **Child, our daughter  
Sit while we talk awhile  
**_

* * *

And that was how Ilia found herself with a captive, gagged by cloth and wrapped tightly by her weapon, since she wasn't exactly carrying bundles of rope around.

The fingertips finding their own way to her temples pretty much confirmed that it was a habit now. She'd have sighed if she didn't want to at least pretend that she was a professional. _I don't care if Adam personally gives me the mission; if I ever have to work with this kid again I'm flying home._ Deciding she'd let the captive stew in his own worries long enough, she brandished her backup weapon, a simple black knife.

"You scream, you lose your tongue." Threats that could actually come to fruition were usually the most effective, as indicated by the nervous nod of her captive. Bracing herself, she reached out and slashed the gag.

He didn't lose his tongue. That was a start.

"Who are you?" She tried.

He grimaced. "It doesn't matter..." His gaze craned over to the girl sleeping on Jaune's chest, now facing his belly button. No, scratch that. Ilia would _swim_ home. When his eyes finally landed on the peaceful expression, he hardened his features in rage. "What matters is what that _murderer_ is going to do to my patient." He blinked. "H-has done to my... patient." He finished lowly, mind audibly churning.

Ilia rolled her eyes. If only he knew who he was talking to. "'Murderer'?" She queried. At that, his mind solidified, his eyes turning to stone.

"Her name was Olivia. Olivia Genere." Tears flowed down his twisted face, sleepless eyes red with exhaustion and pain. "She was my mother. This... this was my first major emergency. I was supposed to take over, years from now, long after she'd showed me the ropes." He barely choked back deep, violent sobbing. "Not now. Not so soon. I-I wasn't... she..." The sorrow on his face turned to spite in an instant, raging against his binds. "She killed her! That girl... Olivia tried to save her, when she _stupidly_ ran back into the danger... then she... w-we found her and..." He began to scream, struggling harder than ever before. Ilia watched his breakdown with an impassive expression. "She never came BA-"

The blade held his tongue well, pinning it to the roof of his mouth. A couple inches deeper, and he'd never scream again. It was certainly tempting, but bodies were infinitely more annoying to deal with than people.

"Consider that a warning." Ilia remarked, only to hear a noise behind her. She cast a short glance over her shoulder.

What should have been an awkward moment of awakening became a nightmare, as Ruby listened to the medic's testimony with wide eyes. The noise she'd heard was Ruby rising from Jaune's side, rustling the bedspead. Ilia understood what she was going to do far too late to stop her.

"Wai-" Faster than Ilia could blink, Ruby fled, shoving open the door in her haste to get away. Ilia's fingers curled dangerously, and faced her wounded captive with a withering glare. "You..." She hadn't the words. To substitute, she spun on one heel and promptly drove the other into his skull, knocking him out cold. Thankfully, she'd remembered to wear her mask, so more lethal measures weren't necessary. However, Adam's voice distantly reminded her that she shouldn't take chances with so much at stake. She bit her lip as indecision racked her body, seconds ticking by. What would Blake do? With a start, Ilia realized she couldn't say for certain anymore. She was on her own. Blood dripped from her lip.

She had to choose.

* * *

 _ **You've done no misdeed**_

With her retrieved knife in hand, Ilia promptly chased after her charge.

 _ **Still they'll put your life on trial**_

Compartmentalization was a murderer's best friend.

* * *

She'd deserved better.

Olivia had deserved better. Every single person that Monster-Ruby consumed or caused the death of deserved better. They deserved better than to be rendered nameless, faceless figures at the deepest corner of her mind, muttering in a collective voice, little more than books without covers in a library. They deserved better than to become part of Red's ever-growing body count, to become just a statistic.

Jaune deserved better than to be on the verge of death, almost dying to defend a stranger. Ilia deserved better than to be dragged into this. They all deserved better than to have ever met Ruby.

Somebody knocked on the door to the supply closet. "Go away," Ruby mumbled into her forearms.

She'd wondered about the horrifying implications of what Ilia told her, that she'd just found her lying there, unconscious. Wondered what the monster had done. Now she knew. The monster was hungry. Then it found prey.

She'd deserved so much better...

The knocking grew more insistent. "Go away," Ruby said, louder this time, fingertips clawing at her elbows.

Cinder's words of encouragement, that didn't actually feature encouragement, rang in her ears. Cinder seemed so casually confident in Ruby's eventual victory that the child smiled painfully at the memory. She knew that crying wouldn't stop Junior's brother, nor mend the suffering her existence caused. She knew that she had to fight, even when things became impossible to deal with. She couldn't save everyone, but she could fight like hell to save those closest to her, a lesson beaten into her long ago, providing as solidly a foundation for her strength as concrete. Otherwise, the only person she hadn't disappointed yet would finally look at her with those same eyes. And when Yang was so, so far away, she wasn't sure she could make it without someone who believed in her.

She knew she had to, but it was hard. So unbelievably hard not to collapse into an immobile ball, torn apart by the fear of what was inside her, and the guilt of what it made her do. Cinder's voice chided her. ' _Consider how much you stand to gain from conquering these trials, and you will understand the true purpose of being.'_ Was that what suffering was, just perspective? It was a surprisingly sobering thought. Was that how Cinder got so strong? Could she... do the same? And if she did, was that finally how she would find the strength to stop cowering? To stop being so selfish, and fight for those left? Her hand unconsciously sought out a necklace that was no longer there. Wasn't that how she'd gotten this far?

She dried her tears and calmed her breathing, trying to fill her thoughts with the warmth of summer and lilac eyes, what she was ultimately fighting for. She couldn't let them down. The ember in her soul reignited, silver eyes shining brilliantly. People were counting on her.

It was time she returned the favor to Jaune.

The knocking on the door had become shuddering thuds, as though attempting to break down the door. Sorry for her weakness, an apology to Ilia was already on her lips by the time she'd stood up and opened the door.

"Sorr-"

She stopped. Green eyes gave a condescending glare, lips twisted in an arrogant smirk. Ruby spat blood, and promptly fell back, head separate to her body. Horror blossomed as something not human clawed against the door. She couldn't let it out now, not when Jaune or Ilia were so close. They deserved better than to end up like Olivia. She fought even as her body occasionally twitched, blood spewing from her cleanly severed neck.

Her attacker's expression was twisted in obvious disgust. "Ew." She hadn't meant to cut _that_ deep.

She activated her scroll, raising it to eye level as she wiped off her heel-blade on Ruby's clothes, stepping outside to avoid the growing pool.

Her call was answered immediately, Junior's brother coming through sans camera. "Miltia?"

"Melanie," she corrected, wringing her nose. "I got the girl." She said nonchalantly.

"Did she see him die?" He said, tone raised in obvious warning of the wrong answer.

"She went off to have a little girl cry, Boss." She said with an obnoxious Eastern Vale accent, clearly from the bustling trade city on the eastern coast. "Like, ohmygosh, she's such a little girl! She sees her BF all hurt and she's like-"

"I gave specific instructions," Junior's brother growled, silencing the teenager immediately. "That she would die last. She would watch everyone who tried to help her die, knowing she couldn't do a damn thing, then-" He grit his teeth, growling wordlessly. "Then she would feel even an ounce of what I felt." Melanie rolled her eyes off to the side.

"Boss, assassination is like, a delicate _art,_ " she said haughtily. "You take what you can get, or you get nothinnn'." She punctuated with a know-it-all headshake.

Junior's brother sighed in wordless exasperation, Melanie maintaining a haughty air as she checked her immaculate nails. "So, do I stab the BF, or like, what, Boss?"

"Proceed as planned," was all he said before cutting the feed. Melanie groaned melodramatically.

"Oh well. At least I get a sexy nurse outfit out of this gig." She checked the outfit, biting her lip saucily when she noticed just how short the skirt was. She practically purred. "Milly will be soooo jealousss…" She'd have to change out of it though. Some blood had gotten on the front, and now its disguise potential was ru-

Quick as a whip, Melanie extended her blades and deflected the attack aimed at her heart, throwing the figure back. Ilia grimaced as she came to a screeching halt, knife held in a textbook reverse grip, practically on all fours from her low crouch. The heavily accented girl put a hand on her hip arrogantly. "Who the heck are you?" She checked her out shamelessly, mask and all. "And who do I have to thank for putting that ass in spandex?"

Ilia's gut twisted in a mixture of disbelief and disgust. She was literally covered in blood and she was _flirting_? Just who the hell wanted her charge dead? Some league of perverted assassins? Maybe Ruby was right to be suspicious that her bodyguard was a pervert. She was suddenly very thankful that Blake hadn't been given this assignment.

"Where's Ruby?" Ilia responded, rising to her full stature, dark blade gleaming in the hospital light.

Melanie laughed, every syllable carrying with it that same sick arrogance which made her infuriating. "Oh, you mean the kid?" She stepped aside, presenting the closet like a gameshow hostess.

Ilia blinked. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Melanie spent a handful of moments in utter confusion when her instincts flared again, ducking under a surprise attack from behind. Her face caught the follow up, light blue aura flaring just in time, Ilia's heel sending the green-eyed teen careening into the supply closet. She only had a moment to recover before the door slammed in her face, Ruby putting all her weight in holding her back. She could barely stand, vision swimming as she fought the monster, yet she still managed to nod appreciatively at Ilia. Melanie banged on the door.

"Seriously!? A fucking closet!? UGH!" She shrieked.

"I can't..." Ruby tried to say, slamming her head back against the door as her skin writhed. "F-fight like this..." She gave a significant, soulful look to Ilia, resolve shining through the agony. Ilia was visibly trying to not be disgusted by the tendrils writhing beneath Ruby's flesh. "G-get Jaune… it's me she wants..."

"Yeah, and in the 5 seconds it takes-" An dust-infused blade pierced through the door, right beside Ruby's head. "-for her to take you down, then she's my problem!" She gestured. "Step aside. I'll handle her."

"I'm t-tougher... than I look." Unfortunately, the blade that suddenly pierced her side begged to differ. Ruby cried out, gritting her teeth as darkness bled into her eyes. She was going to lose this fight if she couldn't focus. She needed Ilia to take Jaune and go, now. When everyone she cared about was out of the immediate vicinity, she might be able to guide its hunger. Then in a twist of fate, Ilia shoved her aside. Ruby looked up with eyes of betrayal until she realized what was happening, weakly reaching for the Faunus.

She deserved better.

The imminent threat of Ilia's death gave her enough resolve to finally turn the tide, a process as grating and painful as clawing apart concrete with her bare hands, while taking even more effort. She screamed in exertion, will backed by dire necessity and newfound conviction. She was not fast enough, however, to save Ilia from the opening salvo, as the seemingly random attacks on the door proved to have been a tactic all on its own. A roughly human shaped hole burst from the door, catching Ilia in the chest, which Melanie followed up on with another decapitating slice.

Metal screeched against metal as Ilia fought for her life, her opponent's graceful twirling ensuring a constant barrage of wide slashes. Melanie changed her leading foot constantly, varying the direction of every vicious blow. The clinging was rhythmic, accompanying the deadly ballet of battle against her lethal attacker. "Go!" She cried at her charge, unable to spare so much as a glance. It was all Ilia could do just to survive, desperately trying to avoid getting battered into a corner. Ruby staggered to her feet, almost falling once or twice, but steadying herself each time. Darkness tainted the corners of her eyes like twin oil spills.

"I'm not leaving you." Ruby insisted. She couldn't leave, but she also couldn't stay.

Ilia growled, exertion raising the decibel of her voice considerably. "Damnit! Why can't you just trust me!?" Ruby's head rose slightly, comprehension slowly dawning on her face.

* * *

 _ **This world is cold  
The power's with those who would judge and control  
**_

* * *

Then, as part of the ever-growing enigma that was Ruby, no last name known, she smiled.

"...I do trust you." She said with such sincerity it almost threw Ilia off. "I'll leave this to you. Kick her flat butt, big sis Ilia!" Melanie spent a moment casting a heated glance at Ruby, until Ilia promptly reminded her where her attention should lay.

"Ughh! You flatchested _bitch_!" Melanie whined as her aura soaked up the impact. Ruby managed her way to the wall, clinging to it while she walked on unsteady legs. "She's one to fucking talk!"

 _Big sis, huh..._ the last thing she needed was for the kid to become attached. And, of course, she did. Nothing went right when Ruby was involved. Ilia twirled her knife and dropped low, wordlessly continuing the fight. Just in time, for the heavy axe kick would've split her in two if she hadn't prepared to block it.

* * *

The path to Jaune's room was only seconds away, if one knew the right way. But when Ruby couldn't get her bearings, stumbling about and following her loose memory, it took almost an eternity. She breathed hard, legs trembling. She fell to the floor repeatedly, literally crawling as her eyes fought the darkness at their corners. Each time she crawled up the wall, undaunted, dragging herself to her feet. _Jaune_.

She continued on, trailing the wall, silver eyes bleeding resolve.

Finally, she'd retraced her steps. She practically collapsed against the door, fumbling as her unresponsive hands sought out the button. She crashed her wrist against the glass, shattering it, and the door reluctantly opened. She fell inside.

* * *

"How long," Melanie asked mockingly as Ilia panted in exhaustion. "Do you think the little flatchested bitch'll take?"

"Long enough for me to finish you before she gets there." Ilia responded, dark blade held in a shaky grip beneath the harsh light. Melanie's insufferable smirk deepened.

"Oh yeah?" From her back, Melanie dramatically produced a filled hand. Filled with something plastic, topped with a button. A textbook detonator. Ilia's eyes widened. "You sure it isn't about now?"

She wasn't fast enough. Not nearly fast enough. Not when Melanie's thumb was already hovering over the button to end Jaune's life. The look in her eyes showed just how much she lived for this moment. The moment someone lost all hope and watched their world burn.

"You should've ran faster."

The thumb came down.

* * *

Ruby clawed at the ground, eyes groggily drifting to the bed. A low beep drew her attention, causing her to shift her gaze. Black plastic, small and easily concealable, attached to the wall. The beeping stopped.

She smiled, flesh darkening as it hardened, and closed her eyes.

Then her world erupted in heat and flames, all consuming and rapid, point-blank explosion obliterating everything.

* * *

If Port were a lesser man, he might've turned to the crowd and shouted 'I told you so!'

Instead, as an esteemed Hunter, his immediate reaction was to get to work, the deadly rain of glass and shrapnel heading straight for the crowd.

"Get back!" The crowd fled in chaos, screams and cries of fear and panic perfectly suiting the sudden disastrous setting. A lone girl with green eyes merely watched the collapsing debris with wide eyes, in awe of the spectacle. Port's mind superimposed many outcomes upon the girl, none of them survivable. One of them in particular caused his eyes to become visible in deep alarm.

With speed he thought he'd lost years ago, he raced to her side, red aura deflecting potentially fatal shrapnel. Acting quickly, he grabbed her in a bear hug and leapt, one piece of debris that was once an entire wall flattening where he'd been moments prior. As the dust settled and smaller debris continued to rain, Port uncurled, staring at the young woman he'd just accosted. Like a cat, he sprung back to the other wall of the alleyway, straightening his tie and muttering about his wife with his back turned.

"That was most unfortunate, your paralysis," He immediately settled back into routine, lecturing the young woman calmly. She was not paralyzed now, however. "Yes, standing still in battle is truly a death sentence - as well as having your back turned." Silver blades extended from her stylish gloves, as she reared back to deliver a decapitating blow. "It is also unfortunate to underestimate your enemy."

The claws swiped at Port's neck. It almost succeeded, stopped at the last moment by a delicate, feminine hand, flush with grey aura.

"Conversely, of all the advantages in battle - it truly pays to have teammates." Volkskaya quickly pulled the young assailant off-balance, the girl lurching forward. Her other hand, spread wide in a clawed hand moved opposite to her tugging arm and promptly battered the green-eyed girl to the ground. She impacted the ground solidly, aura fluttering as the savage blow broke straight through. She wheezed, solar plexus thoroughly paralyzed, the sign of a picture perfect strike honed by decades of battle.

"I live among Hunters and Huntresses. I could spot someone with sufficient training from miles away. And yet you chose to remain still." The older man finally faced the girl. "Your infiltration mark is 0. Remedial classes will be hosted after your sentencing. However, if you wish to acquire extra marks..." He lorded over her, nodding at his wife's silent query, who then vanished in a blur.

"...You can start with the whereabouts of your accomplices."

For several long moments, Miltia stared up at him with a sorrowful look. Port was confused, until the air was split by the rapid fire of explosive rounds. The Vigilant, who'd formed a perimeter to stop the spread of this calamity, started to drop systematically, their invisibility suddenly rendered useless. They tried to leap down, fleeing for cover, but the shots had come with such rapidity that by the time they'd so much as taken one step, it was over. The last Upper Guard vanished mid-air in a fiery blast, expensive Atlesian tech rendered meaningless beneath overwhelming firepower. Some of the most trained and well-armed of Vale's Upper Guard, devastated in seconds.

"She doesn't need to tell you shit, old man." Port trained his shocked eyes upwards, to the rooftop at the alley's end. Junior's older brother stood, rifle held aloft, free hand sheathed in metal, joints emitting a faint blue light.

"I'm right fucking here." He smirked savagely, clearly enamored in the thrill of the moment. His massive weapon was brought to bear, barrel smoking, whirring as it readied to dispense yet more explosive death. Then, as though from nowhere, dozens of the Red Men of Vale, the most cost-effective and readily available muscle in all of Vale, filled the edges of the rooftops. Several more came to a halt at the alleyway's entrance. Port was completely surrounded.

There would be no escape.

"So come and GET ME!"

* * *

Everything was ringing.

Her eyes were greeted with a dull grey haze, the aftermath of such devastation wrought upon the hospital and girl alike. Her reaching hands were followed by smoky afterimages, as though her eyes couldn't quite piece movement together. The coppery taste of blood and smell of metal formed a distinct concoction, embodying the aftermath of an explosion. Into her focus came a metal beam, large and held by wires, looming ominously above. Her senses screamed, limp motions becoming more panicked, fumbling for anything to clamber away. The wires strained, falling apart. Ruby watched with eyes unable to focus, yet still overflowing with the fear of pain, as they finally snapped.

The metal crashed into the debris below. It did not find flesh.

A hazy image of white metal and crescent lines appeared briefly in Ruby's image before she was suddenly pulled, collapsing to safety. Her eyes rolled purposelessly in her skull, head lolling to the side. They landed on her survivor, heaving amid the smoke and fiery aftermath, sword used as a crutch. Silver eyes widened minutely.

 _Jaune_.

Without further ado, her savior smiled. "We're even now, right...?" Then collapsed to his knees, exhaustion overtaking him, as well as the smoke. Ruby's mind finally received the jumpstart it needed. She forced herself up, gathering herself like smoke into a vent. All at once the alarms and blood and smoke and metal and flames came at her, causing her to wince at the sensory overload, passing slowly.

"Jaune…" she said, trying to blink away the haze. "When did you...?"

He shook his head, likely suffering from the same haze himself. "Something woke me up. I-I don't know what, but then I saw that thing on the wall and that guy in the chair and... I had to get out of there." He looked at the devastated room, collapsing more and more every moment. "When it went off, I came back, because it-it might not've been for me..." He stared at her with visible relief. "But it can't kill someone like you, right? You're... you're okay, right?" The more he contemplated what little he knew about explosives, the more worried he became. "You're not uh... bleeding i-internally are you?"

"Uh..." Ruby wanted to tell him that she was just dazed, but escaping the blast almost unharmed would raise a lot of questions. Like how she'd gotten so strong, and who trained her. She suddenly made a show of falling to a knee, grasping her side. "N-now that you mention it, I think it got me in the-" _random organ random organ "_ -kidney." _No wait that's fatal what's wrong with you Ruby._

Jaune's look of selfless concern made Ruby's empathetic heart ache. There was nothing worse than taking advantage of a good, honest person. "That's funny..." Jaune spat blood, straining to smile through the pain. "I-I think it got me there too." Ruby's eyes widened as Jaune trembled, only now recognizing just what kind of shape he was in. With how dehydrated he was before, not to mention the wound to his chest, however healed, and now being so close to an explosion that'd likely ripped apart his Aura... Jaune needed medical attention. Now.

* * *

 _ **I think you're gonna figure out:  
I'm the one for you and there's no one else**_

* * *

As though to signify this, one of his knees gave out, Ruby and Jaune's hands both instinctively reacting to keep him up. Her short statue meant she was holding him from beneath his arm, supporting him like an extra limb. This made their two faces uncomfortable close, Jaune's arm slung over her shoulder like they were on a date. The two shared a moment of embarrassment, faces flushing and turning away briefly before something else collapsed and snapped them out of it. They shared a significant look, communicating wordlessly, and nodded together.

As one, Ruby and Jaune stood, hobbling as the blonde warrior used his weapon to practically pull himself forward, digging into the darkened tiles. Ruby tried to avoid dragging Jaune, even as his limbs strained just to keep him standing. "Wait..." Ruby stopped immediately, looking up at Jaune with curious eyes.

"What is it?"

"T-the guy... he's in a safe-ish spot but... he's still tied to a chair. We can't leave him." Ruby spent only a moment in contemplation before realizing who he meant. She looked away, biting her lip. She needed to rescue Ilia as well. There was no telling how she'd been affected by the blast. She was hoping to carry Jaune to safety then go back but... she couldn't keep up the charade while saving all three of them. How the hell was she supposed to act wounded while practically dragging along two others, maybe three? She started to panic internally. What was she supposed to do? Why did she have to choose?

Like lighting following the thunder, Ruby's moment of weakness attracted the attention of the monster within. She collapsed, grasping her head, Jaune's cries of concern a distant noise upon her dark horizon. _Please,_ she pleaded to the unthinking beast. _I-I can't._

The darkness intruding upon her eyes begged to differ. Ruby screamed as the monster's claws pierced through the door, filling her mind with its foul need for carnage. The muscles in Ruby's hands audibly tightened as her fists balled.

Golden hair flooded her mind, as did Olivia's maternal gaze, Roman's collected demeanor, Emerald's red eyes, and Cinder's cool confidence. The monster's influence impacted the barrier of will mightily. But Ruby's desire to save her friends, to help those she could, was stronger.

They all deserved better.

Like tendrils receding into the abyss, the darkness retreated from Ruby's tightly closed eyes. She breathed as the world returned, Jaune's hands shaking her, alarms blaring, smoke and flames filling her nose and lungs. She reared back, sitting up, legs splayed to either side. Jaune stared at her with wide, terrified eyes.

"R-Ruby..." and immediately hugged her, letting out a shuddering breath. He released her just as quickly, wincing, eyes watering from the smoke. Probably. "What was that? C-can you walk?"

"I..." She shook her head. "Sorry. Sudden migraine. Head trauma." She awkwardly looked away, then back. "We should keep going."

Jaune nodded wordlessly, concern overwriting everything else. "I-I can try and walk on my own if you-"

She shook her head desperately. "No! You let me help you or I will carry you like a backpack, Mister." She finished with what she hoped was a scalding pout.

"O... kay..." Jaune blinked confusedly. "Let's-"

The ceiling collapsed behind them. The two darted back instinctively, falling side by side. They gave each other a mutual look of sheepishness and promptly clambered to their wobbly haunches, Ruby resuming her position as crutch under Jaune's arm. He spent a moment giving deep, hacking coughs into his hand, wiping blood away on his ruined pants. Her decision had been made for her. Jaune was likely dying, while the Faunus still had a fighting chance alone.

She'd just have to trust in Ilia. And hope against all odds that this decision didn't turn out like the last one did...

* * *

 _ **Sorry about the cliffhanger, folks, but I thought this would be as good an opportunity as any to end it off and go next. More dramatic, ya see?**_

 _ **I'm sure we all know an obnoxious prissy girl that comes from Cali we'd all like to see brutally murdered. They're like, the worssssst! Sorry, I'll stop. I may or may not have been heavily influenced by the Flower Girls from Camp Camp for Melanie's character.**_

 _ **Thinking about quoting songs that aren't from the RWBY OST, but would still be thematically fitting. Thoughts, folks?**_

 _ **Review please.**_


	8. Ladies love it! - Part 6

**Creeping Thorns**

 _Ladies love it! - Part 6_

 _ **Holy hell, man did I not expect this arc to be as long as it is. We still got several chapters to go. Maybe I should merge the chapters in the future... meh, whatever. All it means is that I'm going to have to go that much more full out to top this arc with the next one.**_

 _ **You know, I had 1k words or so of this chapter written before I'd finished the last one. So I was like "ah man, I can finish this super quick, it'll be like I've stopped time" but then uh... then flash forward two weeks, and I haven't written even a single word, and uh... yeah. Flash forward even harder and it's August. Yikes.**_

 _ **Edit: AND THEN FLASH FORWARD AND BL3 IS OUT. Never lucky...**_

 _ **Edit edit: and then flash forward and I've been reminded to write because, of all bizarre things to happen, I ran into other RWBY fanfic writers while playing Destiny. The internet is weird.**_

 _ **Edit edit edit: Also - merry holidays, Exiles.**_

 _ **So here's hoping most of you who are habitual readers are still alive. And all that.**_

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

Even as debris rained on the non-combatants and Guardsmen alike, who were busy rescuing civilians and guiding their evacuation, the commander of the Vigilant merely continued to cock his head.

"Curious." He murmured, then finally faced his fellow serviceman, who was panicking as he roared into his Scroll.

"Where the fuck are those reinforcements!?" Basalt yelled. "We are under attack, I repeat, we are under attack!" Something came through that only raised his ire further, causing him to almost crush the scroll in his grip. "Declare a fucking city wide emergency if you have to, I don't care! Get here NOW!" A short response was issued and then the communication was cut.

Basalt kicked over the table, glass and all, shattering the scotch and staining the floor an ugly brown. His chest heaved as his anger flowed through him, robbing him of any semblance of calm. "Fucking Autopilots. We have soldiers in airships who can't fucking pilot them without navigation systems, ones that can't be set with custom parameters - what are we supposed to do in situations like this!?"

That was a question which had a very immediate answer.

"I will be there shortly." The deep, gravelly voice of the Vigilant Commander said. "Until then, keep this contained to the best of your abilities." Then vanished, flickering out of existence.

A hologram? "They get holograms while we can't even get pilots who know how to fly manual!?" Basalt didn't think it was possible to get any angrier. He needed an Oum-damned drink. Except he'd just shattered the only non-surgical alcohol in the whole building... now he needed a drink even more.

Basalt kicked over the couch and opened his scroll, immediately barking orders into the ears of his men. His next set of orders died on his lips, however, when the sky and sound-barrier were split by a dozen rapid explosions, expertly aimed, ripping apart the only Guards maintaining a perimeter. He was still for a moment. Then he raised his head.

The Station Killer, a name given by guardsmen and civilians alike, landed onto the roof opposite the hospital. Dozens of thugs now lined the rooftops, encircling the idiotic though decorated Huntsman, Professor Peter Port. Cries of concern and panic flooded through the channel, despair audibly echoing among his troops as word of the Station Killer's arrival spread quickly, as fear always did. The silence of their commander was deafening, as he witnessed a man who'd just murdered a dozen of Vale's Upper Guard in seconds ready a handheld flak cannon. He fell to his knees, years of service palling in the face of such certain death. The calls of his men for orders kept coming through, even as time slowed to a crawl.

Basalt Blackwell had no words. He hadn't the heart to tell his men what was going to happen to them. There was no escape. They hadn't the training nor the equipment nor the ability. They were chaff. And the Station Killer was the scythe, capable of fighting two veteran Hunters simultaneously on even footing, only retreating when the table was turned by reinforcements. One of whom was busy fighting off dozens of thugs with his bare hands, wounds and lack of weapon hindering what should have been an otherwise easy fight.

* * *

 _ **I think you're gonna figure out;  
I'm the one for you and there's no one else**_

* * *

He didn't hear the gun open fire. He only saw it light up with garish bursts of dust-fueled light. The sounds of his men being obliterated by cannon-fire didn't reach his ears either, only their screams. Ripped apart by ruthlessly effective airburst rounds, the kind used to penetrate though metal hulls and shred the flesh inside. Like targets on a range, the Station Killer lined his men up, and dispatched each dispassionately with brutal efficiency. Blood and limbs and rubble were kicked up into a fine mist, pulverized into nothingness.

It took seconds, yet it was the longest period of time in Basalt's life. Barely a handful of his men remained, only those who'd been lucky enough to be out of the Station Killer's firing line. Who were then left screaming into the comm channel, desperately hoping that they wouldn't just hear silence. Even as the cannons finally ended their salvo, time refused to resume its steadfast pace. Even as the cannon was raised, aimed directly for him, only the twisted fancy of a psychopath hell-bent on revenge making sure he was last. Basalt's heart finally reached his ears, pulse filling his world as his attention narrowed, like the barrel of a cannon. A singular focus, the last ditch effort of any living being. He ran, even when he knew he couldn't outrun his death, speeding towards him. He had barely turned his back before his world erupted in fire and metal and death.

Then there was only darkness.

* * *

When Ruby and Jaune finally found Olivia's son, he was in far worse state than either remembered.

The ceiling had collapsed into fiery ruin. Metal beams pierced the floor from odd angles, ceiling tiles falling to literal pieces. Wires dangled dangerously, sparking with incomplete circuits. What had once been a ceiling light was now a swinging club, lined with broken glass. And behind it all, bound to a chair, unconscious, was Olivia's son, bleeding all over himself. Ruby looked at Jaune.

"You left him in _here_?"

"It wasn't exactly like _this_ when I-" Jaune's defensive spluttering was cut off when a shudder ran through the building once more. He visibly paled. "...Can we do this later?" He wheezed. None of the implications of that tremor were very appealing.

Ruby nodded wordlessly, ears straining to hear what was going on outside past the alarms and the flames. Even for her, the noises were too difficult to parse. But what she thought she heard was... not good. It sounded an awful lot like screaming. The dying kind.

"Ruby..." Jaune called out reluctantly, but his tepid words were lost when she promptly walked straight forward, and into the flaming wreck before her. Jaune could only watch in utter disbelief as a girl standing a full head below him marched towards the danger - then his jaw cratered through the floor when she lifted a beam easily thrice her height in length, and likely dozens of times heavier.

"R-Ruby..." He said in awe. "Are you sure you can... do this? You're injured..."

While ordinary people would need no reminder, those pretending to be normal certainly did. Ruby made a show of almost buckling beneath the weight of the beam, as she wrestled it away from the pile that was once the ceiling, sending it clattering to the floor below. She coughed, wheezing in exertion. "I can t-try..." was all she said, sounding incredibly short of breath.

Jaune's hands balled at his side, leaning on the wall to maintain balance. Ruby closed her eyes, Jaune's honest concern reverberating in her ears like a taunting hallucination, trying to do anything but think of the kind-hearted person she was lying to in a bid to maintain her façade of innocence and normality. Green eyes peered at her from under the brim of a perpetually angled bowler hat, replete with cigar, trailing wisps of smoke. _You're doing well, Red,_ she could hear him say. _Keep this up, and no one will ever know that you're the Monster who caused all this._ She winced, and shook her head, clearing away the disparaging fantasy. That wasn't really him, nor what he would say, and she couldn't exactly afford to daydream. Grimacing, she wrapped her small hands around yet more rubble and pulled.

Her musings were interrupted when someone very real suddenly arrived at her side, sagging under the weight of his wounds. Ruby's eyes widened when Jaune's hands met hers, grasping the heated metal, audibly gritting his teeth as the searing heat practically branded his palms. With a surprising burst of strength, he eased her burden considerably, and tossed it aside. Steam wafted from his sweaty, bleeding hands. Except they were... unburnt. She blinked in confusion.

He smiled faintly. "Some l-liquids like water make a temporary b-barrier against hot stuff," he explained weakly, the sheer effort involved in helping her draining what little remained of his strength. Ruby nodded, not understanding at all, filing that one away under 'science stuff' for theoretical future application. Then she blinked, realization slowly coming, until she was shaking her head with obvious concern.

"That's - that's not what I meant." She said. "Are you sure you can...?" She knew what the answer was before Jaune even took a breath.

"I can try." He said, smiling faintly, wiping the sweat and blood off himself with a hand. "Besides, I..." he looked away, the moment becoming much more intensely personal. His fist clenched with resolve. "I can't stand forcing you to do everything. I refuse to be helpless." Something flashed through his eyes, to quick to catch. Ruby's mouth parted slightly then she cursed herself silently. Of course someone like Jaune would feel terrible about being saved so often. She'd been selfish, again, thinking only of protecting him at all costs and not thinking about how the guilt must've been agonizing. Oum knows how it tore away at her.

Besides. There was no stopping Ruby when she decided to help out, and even on the verge of collapsing, there likely wouldn't be any convincing Jaune either. Smiling faintly, Ruby nodded, and made to grasp another piece of metal when something else grasped her hands. Her confusion was momentary, while the feeling of all the blood in her body rushing into her cheeks would last a lifetime. Jaune had taken her palms with his own.

"H-here..." He said, smiling apologetically. "Sorry for, um, n-not asking first..." Beneath his smoky, bloodied coating, Jaune was blushing faintly himself. Then he wiped his face with his hands and grasped another piece of metal, leaving a flushing Ruby to stare down in silent horror at her dirty, sweaty, bloody hands.

Something else that would last a lifetime - Ruby's horrified cry of disgust and shaking hands as she tried desperately to cast off the _filth,_ tact be damned.

* * *

Ilia had been lucky.

The moment the explosive went off, she hadn't died instantly, as per her organs turning to soup. Instead, her aura was battered by the shockwave, sending her flying into the wall. She'd even maintained consciousness, letting her feel every ounce of pain throughout her battered body.

Compared to Ilia, however, Melanie had hit the jackpot. Though that likely had to do with the fact she'd already prepared herself for the ensuing hellscape.

When the wave came, she met it easily, barely moving a handful of feet. The shrapnel was dodged just as deftly, well-practiced footwork easily facilitating a wide slice that split the hospital bed flying straight at her. The cut metal came to a screeching halt against the far wall, the ceiling now littered with many dangling hazards as tiles fell into white dust. Alarms blared, though the inescapable ringing in Ilia's ears rendered them distant and faint. She could barely hear her opponent's taunt.

"For someone who's like, supposed to be a bodyguard or whatever, you're doing a pretty terrible job, honestly." Melanie said as she sauntered through the destruction. "Like, you let me stab your flatchested mark, then let me blow up her BF... like, your CCNet reviews must be so low, it's _redonkulous._ " Ilia grit her teeth as she tried to stand, only to collapse moments later. Her senses were completely disrupted by the blast, a horrifying side effect of the shockwave that devastated targets not immediately killed by it.

Melanie tilted her head, and battered her ear with her palm. Moments later an earbud popped out the opposite side, then her neck turned the other way and she repeated the process. She sighed contentedly once they were out, smiling pleasantly. "I get that like, they're not supposed to be uncomfortable, but they totally are..." Her eyes flickered over to Ilia. She smiled perversely as she sauntered over, Ilia struggling to stand, hands weakly grasping at rubble and dust. "This is probably going to sound really creepy, but like... I like watching you crawl away from me."

Melanie promptly lowered her heel into Ilia's back, driving it in with deliberate slowness. Her expression of perverse satisfaction had yet to change, only deepening as Ilia's exertions grew in decibel, the heel almost severing her spine. Like a true sadist, the assassin kicked her victim over, wanting nothing more than to bear witness to a visage of pure agony. The heel proceeded to acquaint itself with Ilia's diaphragm, strangling her without the slightest touch on her throat. Miltia kept grinning, kept taunting, watching the colour of Ilia's face change into the beautiful blue shade of slow asphyxiation. Her white mask, shattered and pulverized, almost indistinguishable from the rubble, lay helplessly to the side.

"You know what I like watching even more?" Melanie whisper-gloated, wide-eyed and unblinking. "Guess." Her laser-like focus was directed solely on Ilia's face, watching her eyes roll further and further into her skull. A frothing mixture of saliva seeped from Ilia's mouth, her movements beginning to slow, struggling hands falling to her side.

* * *

 _ **But we have a chance to make it right (for you)  
**_

 _ **This is what you'll do:**_

* * *

In most schools of combat in Remnant, there is one fundamental rule that must be considered at all times. One principle that rules all others in its universality, its ever-present-ness.

Almost unconsciously, seeing her enemy mere moments from death, and having witnessed this moment undoubtedly countless times before, Miltia failed that principle.

Her body shimmered as her aura receded, thinking she'd need to conserve the energy for the long fight ahead. She leaned even more heavily into her heel in preparation to step off her victim.

* * *

 _ **Show them how you smile**_

* * *

One moment, Melanie was standing on a soon-to-be dead body. Then with the speed and spontaneity of a creature on the brink of death, dark metal flashed and sank into flesh. Melanie blinked once in confusion, robbed of her perverse glee. Her world fell to its side, a moment bereft of the sound of alarms and fire and torture. An eternity later, Melanie looked down. A tip of black metal protruded from her ankle, with a hilt on the other side. The sensations of everything that had just happened finally reached her brain, and all at once Melanie screamed in anger and pain.

"You fucking flatassed _BITCH_!"

Ilia crawled like she never had before. She'd only bought herself seconds at most, probably less. Which just made it all the more necessary for her to _move_.

Melanie's mind twisted in hatred, adrenaline and anger sharpening her attention to a lethal, numbing edge. The screams that tore from her throat went unnoticed as she clawed for higher ground, barely managing a tilted stance. At once, she hobbled after her target, ankle liberally spewing viscous fluid in her agonized tracks.

Ilia had barely managed her way into the doorway of the most immediate room before Melanie descended upon her in a shrieking heap, clawed hands seeking out Ilia's vulnerable neck. Ilia beat against her forearms, but Melanie was fighting like a woman possessed.

With dexterity only someone as well-trained and lithe as Ilia could manage, the Faunus drew her legs back and double-kicked her opponent's unguarded sternum. Melanie's aura was the only thing between her and a collapsed ribcage. Either way, the blow disorientated her enough for Ilia to escape, clawing her way towards the back of the room.

Melanie's vision swam from the surprisingly strong blow, a mixture of pure grit and hatred the sole reason she could even move. More determined than ever, she rolled onto her front and clawed at the shattered glass and debris, dragging herself across it without care. Many minute trails of blood followed in her wake, joining those left by Ilia in her own desperation.

Ilia's hands finally made contact with something substantive, gripping it for proper leverage. She drew herself forward, pulling her ankles from Melanie's reach. Melanie, however, refused to be denied by such circumstance. With a savage cry, the assassin lunged forward and grabbed the Faunus' ankles like lifelines, almost crushing them beneath her white-knuckled hands. Then, she _pulled_.

It was all Ilia could do to hold on. Second by second Ilia felt her grip slipping, losing ground to the sheer willpower of her attempted killer. Even worse was that for every inch that Ilia lost, Melanie gained two, clawing her way ever closer. She cast a glance back at the woman so hellbent on killing her. Eyes that held no sign of civility or mercy stared back at Ilia with unblinking rage.

Her hand reached Ilia's waist, pulling her ligaments taut. In that instance, Ilia finally had room to act.

She lashed out, booted foot whipping Melanie's twisted face back from the force of the blow. The vicegrip on her other leg relented, and Ilia finally pulled away. But Melanie continued to refuse being denied.

Shrieking like a harpy and with a spray of blood on its exit, the green-eyed assassin ripped the knife from her wound and stabbed it straight into Ilia's gut. Ilia cried out as her own knife pierced through her and into the tile below, pinning her in place. While rarely fatal, the sheer pain that came from a such gut wound was debilitating enough that Ilia was paralyzed, overloading her nerves and causing her muscle to seize.

Melanie panted heavily as she gripped the blade, other hand splayed to her side for balance. Blood gushed from her ankle-wound as her heart beat for all it was worth. Sweat dripped from her trembling body, matting down her disheveled hair.

Humans, for all their might and ingenuity, were powerless beneath the debilitating nature of pain. If not for adrenaline, they would be truly pathetic creatures, bereft of merit besides the joy of slaughter. Nonetheless, Melanie heaved, and found the strength to remove the blade from Ilia's flesh, only to plunge it back in once more with all her weight. The blade sunk deep into Ilia's sternum, driving the wind from her lungs in one last scream of pain and locking her diaphragm into place. Her hands clasped over Melanie's in a seemingly vain attempt at retribution, digging into the assassin's flesh with all the strength of a deadman walking. Ilia stared into the eyes of her killer, tendons audibly straining from her iron grip, unwavering, unflinching. Vicious green peered down at defiant grey, watching as Ilia's hands slowly lost their strength and slumped down Melanie's pale arms, the war for the blade edging closer and closer towards the pale girl's victory. Finally Ilia's hand lost what remained of the Faunus' strength, and Melanie drove the tip of the blade all the way into the tile below. The last half gasp of air was expelled from the White Fang member's lungs involuntarily, the last of her diminishing breathe, but even so, Ilia's eyes remained defiant.

Even as her heart slowed, even as she suffocated, even as her eyes began to lose their sheen of life, they stared up. A testament of defiance, a testament of all she fought for, and against.

Ilia's hands fell to her sides. Her eyes were unfocused, but her expression remained defiant. Her muscles relaxed, and her head promptly lulled to the side.

She died without a sound.

Worst of all, she died a noble, honorable death without a thought of begging or pleading, robbing Melanie of any potential satisfaction that her death would bring. Several moments passed as the assassin began to fully comprehend what had just happened, and her scream of pure fury and indignation could almost be heard above roar of fire and alarms.

Her manicured fists, not meant for this sort of thing, impacted viciously against the dead warrior's face, beating it until her nails broke and her knuckles bled from sheer rage. Her assault did not continue indefinitely, however, slowing as her anger and strength subsided. Eventually, her fists bounced uselessly off empty meat, leaving her only the hollow bitterness of being deprived of what she had _earned_. She slowly tilted backward, shaking, trembling, drawing herself off her hands and onto her knees. She stared down at the dead woman, violet eyes forever closed, and admitted to absolutely no one else that she would miss those little gems.

Then, she lurched to one side, and began to crawl.

* * *

 _ **I know I've probably triggered a ton of science folk who actually know science because of my extremely poor understanding of the 'put water on your hand and you can dip it briefly in lava' effect. AKA the Leidenfrost effect but that sounds like a marvel supervillain, so we don't use that one. Basically, if you've seen JJBA Part 2's ending, then it's that. Basically.**_

 _ **For some reason writing Jaune has been really hard for me, even though he's normally pretty easy. Mainly just because I've been trying to write him in a way that makes him gel well with Ruby but not quite act exactly the same as her. Ruby in Creeping Thorns is obviously quite OOC because she's more her own thing, while Jaune is only intended to be OOC because of my take on his character to make him more interesting. At least in my opinion, anyway. Considering the amount of porn/fanfics about him being a total Chad, he's a fan fav, based simply on the fact that people wanna see the Underdog rise to power. I'm trying to do that while also adding a different dimension to his character, something that will ideally help distinguish him from Ruby a fair bit.**_

 _ **Anyway. Sorry to say that this was all I could manage before Christmas. Expect a full 5k words chapter sometime soon. Ish.**_

 _ **Review if you can.**_


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